The Co-Cathedral of St. John The Evangelist in Rochester was filled to capacity July 29 for the installation of Bishop Robert Barron to the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.
“My heart is overwhelmed with joy and with gratitude today,” Bishop Barron said during the Mass.
On June 2, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Barron, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, to be the ninth bishop of Winona-Rochester, which is comprised of the 20 southernmost counties of Minnesota.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, attended the installation Mass along with 25 other cardinals and bishops and over 100 priests and deacons.
Those that couldn’t attend the invitation-only event were able to participate through livestream of the Mass, the Eternal Word Television Network, Real Presence Radio, and Bishop Barron’s own Word on Fire Ministries website.
During his homily, Bishop Barron said he was delighted the Mass took place on the Feast of Sts. Mary, Martha and Lazarus, explaining that the story of the lives of the three siblings and “friends of Jesus” reflects his plan for the diocese.
Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop Barron explained that worshiping God, serving the poor and evangelizing are fundamental to the Church’s mission.
“It does the work of Mary, of Martha and of Lazarus,” he said. “If you want to know my program for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, that’s it.”
Bishop Barron called on parishioners to strengthen their devotion to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, noting that he sees a correlation between the diocese’s location near the Mayo Clinic and the need for the Church to be a place of “spiritual healing.”
Bishop Barron, born on Nov. 19, 1959, in Chicago, spent his childhood in Detroit and then in a suburb of Chicago. He studied at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago and at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., before being ordained a priest May 24, 1986.
After serving as an associate pastor for three years, Bishop Barron 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 Word on Fire Catholic Ministries in 2000 and has been broadcast extensively throughout the world. His 10-part documentary, “Catholicism,” aired on public television in the United States, and he is the first priest since Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen to have a regular national program on a commercial television network.
Bishop Barron has over 3.1 million Facebook followers, 527,000 YouTube subscribers, 351,000 Instagram followers, and over 205,000 Twitter followers.