New bishop announced for Winona-Rochester Diocese

WINONA, Minn. (KTTC) – The Holy See announced Thursday that Pope Francis has appointed the Most Rev. Robert E. Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.

His installation Mass has been set for Friday, July 29.

According to the Winona-Rochester Diocese, Bishop Barron was born on November 19, 1959 in Chicago, and spent his childhood in Detroit and then in a suburb of Chicago.

Bishop Barron studied at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago and at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC before being ordained a priest on May 24, 1986. Bishop Barron served as an associate pastor for three years and then was sent to study at the Institut Catholique de Paris where he completed his Doctorate of Sacred Theology.

He served as professor of theology at Mundelein Seminary from 1992 to 2015 and also served as its president-rector from 2012 to 2015. Bishop Barron launched his “Word on Fire Catholic Ministries” in 2000 and has reached an audience all over the world.

He has a 10-part documentary called “Catholicism” which aired on public television in the United States. According the diocese, he is the first priest since Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen to have a regular national program on a commercial television network.

Bishop Barron also hosts a website called “Barron’s Word on Fire” featuring daily blog posts, weekly articles and video commentaries.

He has Bishop Barron has over 3.1 million Facebook followers, and thousands of other followers on other social media platforms.

“I am overjoyed and humbled to receive this new assignment as the ninth bishop of Winona-Rochester,” Bishop Barron said in a news release. “I look forward immensely to getting to know the good people, priests, and pastoral ministers of the diocese. I will have to brush off my Chicago winter coat, which has remained unused for the past six years in Santa Barbara! My fondest hope is that I might be a good spiritual father to all the Catholics of southern Minnesota.”

“I am filled with joy that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Robert Barron as the 9th Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester,” Most Rev. John M. Quinn said in a news release. “His commitment to evangelization and missionary discipleship will bear great fruit in the coming years.”

A press conference will be available via live stream on the Diocesan website www.dowr.org at 11:00 a.m. Thursday.

The Diocese of Winona-Rochester serves the 20 southernmost counties of Minnesota with more than 130,000 Catholics and 107 parishes, four high schools, 30 elementary schools and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary on the campus of St. Mary’s University in Winona.