Pope Francis Appoints Fr. Robert Barron Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles

Word on Fire ^ | July 21, 2015 | Brandon Vogt

[JPX2011]

ROME – This morning, Pope Francis formally announced Father Robert Barron's appointment as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Bishop-Elect Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, host of the award-winning CATHOLICISM film series, and since 2012 has served as the Rector/President of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary outside of Chicago, IL.

His website, WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year. His regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 13 million times. Next to Pope Francis, he is the most-followed Catholic leader on social media.

[JPX2011]

Couldn't be happier that Father Barron (now Bishop-elect Barron) is coming to the neighborhood. Praise be to God.

[markomalley]

Couldn't be happier that Father Barron (now Bishop-elect Barron) is coming to the neighborhood. Praise be to God.

Really?

Father Barron on hell:

From Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith

The Catholic Church on hell:

IV. Hell

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."⁶¹⁰ Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.⁶¹¹ To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

1034 Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.⁶¹² Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"⁶¹³ and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"⁶¹⁴

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."⁶¹⁵ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."⁶¹⁶

Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their teeth."⁶¹⁷

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;⁶¹⁸ for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":⁶¹⁹

Father, accept this offering

from your whole family.

Grant us your peace in this life,

save us from final damnation,

and count us among those you have chosen.⁶²⁰

The two don't seem to line up, do they?

[mosesdapoet]

Protesters Question Archbishop’s Loyalty To US
Protest LA Archbishop Jose Gomez Residence

Dozens of protesters have shown up at Archbishop of Los Angelus Jose Gomez residence. Many carrying American flags and bearing signs questioning Gomez’s loyalty to the US not Mexico along with many signs demanding equal rights for American citizens in Mexico.

The protest was apparently triggered by the clerics decision to push forward with his predecessors decision the disgraced Cardinal Mahoney by offering amnesty thus citizenship to Mexicans who crossed the border illegally. While thousands of Americans in Mexico suffer under 2nd class citizenship unable to own property and suffer indignitys let alone participate in Mexican elections while living there in Mexico.

A spokeswoman for the group, Harriet Hildegarden insisted her group consists of Catholics loyal to the church. “We will be protesting at other locations where prominent clergy of the church have sided with the Obama regime”. “Hildy” claims the church is supporting the democrat party which denied God at their convention and declared what she claims is war on the Catholics but would collude with it on “social engineering” issues including “amnesty” . When asked if she may be denied communion for her activities her reply was “Well it’s been known that when that happens quicker when clerics get personally attacked than when some politican challanges the church on the grounds of faith and morals”
posted as satire in my website http://www.theusmat.com/

Would be “intersting” if something like this did occur.

[markomalley]

Protesters Question Archbishop’s Loyalty To US

It's not the Archbishop's job to be loyal to the US.

It IS the Archbishop's job to be loyal to the teachings of the Church.

The Archbishop being essentially an Øbama shill puts the latter in question.

[Solson]

Barron - loyal follower of Balthasar.

[defconw]

Consider this. We as humans can not know who is in Hell. Therefore we should be more worried about our own souls. We should not judge in such a way. We should not let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking, well I am not as bad as ...say Hitler, so I will not end up next to him in Hell. We have certain assurances from Jesus, but we must stay with him.

Fr. is simply restating what Jesus tells us, there is always while we breathe, a chance for redemption and repentance. Punishment due to our sins is another matter entirely and that's what purgatory is for.

[markomalley]

Father Barron would be completely correct if he stated that we had no idea who was in hell and we might be surprised to find out who wasn't in hell. After all, who are we to question God's grace -- even the worst sinner may, at the moment of death, repent and plead for mercy.

Having said that, this is distinctly different than what Father Barron said in the extract I took a screen shot of: he said, we may, as Hans Urs von Baltasar said, reasonably hope that all will find salvation.

Far too close to Universalism...

[JPX2011]

The two don't seem to line up, do they?

You're absolutely right. Father Barron parroting von Balthasar about a "reasonable hope" that all men might be saved is problematic to say the least. Michael Voris spoke about it at length here: Fr. Barron is Wrong

I can only hope he amends his views on the subject. But I do maintain that should be he become Archbishop of LA at a later date he will bring something better to the table than the ethnocentrism inherent in Bishop Gomez's episcopacy.

[markomalley]

Let me stress, the difference is subtle.

We may reasonably hope that any given person is in Heaven is just fine. We can hope that any person, even a bin Laden, repented before death.

we may, as Hans Urs von Baltasar said, reasonably hope that all will find salvation is counter to the teachings of the Church...to Scripture...to any and all approved private revelation that has been given (e.g., Fatima, Lourdes, etc.) and is, frankly, dangerous.

[defconw]

Well, maybe we should try to get a hold of Fr. Barron and ask him to expand on this subject? I am not anywhere near LA. It so very hard to take everyone in snippets. So much on the Internet is snippets. Most especially when it comes to Catholicism. The simply put is all to often to simple.

That said I agree that it is a subtle difference. Maybe to subtle depending on the audience?

[Campion]

I don't know about "reasonably," but if you can hope for the salvation of any particular person, you can hope for the salvation of all such "particular persons," and thus for all.

As an aside: My personal opinion is that Scripture teaches that Judas is in hell, so the premise above fails. I'm just pointing out that it's not logical to say that one can hope for the salvation of *any* particular person, but not for all.

[defconw]

Please do go on with this. I have taught religious ed to young teens in the past and am thinking of going back to it. It's is exactly these kinds of questions that the kids ask and it can be so tricky to make sure one has covered all the bases AND stayed true to the magisterium.

[rwilson99]

Would Hitler or Judas be subject to the Protestant doctrine of ‘Once saved always saved?’

Now... both of these examples demonstrate the main issue with ‘Once saved always saved.’ But, they do not somehow eliminate God’s grace, and how that saving power may always be accepted by faith.

Please refer to Matthew 7:1... one’s final destination is the judgement that is being discussed.

[rwilson99]

My bad... I took your comment as from a Protestant prospective.

[Bigg Red]

Please, we have a truce in effect; let’s not start up the Protestant doctrine vs. Catholic doctrine battles again.

[NKP_Vet]

He probably couldn’t be happier to get away from Cupich.

ROME - This morning, Pope Francis formally announced Father Robert Barron’s appointment as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Bishop-Elect Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, host of the award-winning CATHOLICISM film series, and since 2012 has served as the Rector/President of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary outside of Chicago, IL.

His website, WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year. His regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 13 million times. Next to Pope Francis, he is the most-followed Catholic leader on social media.
Bishop-Elect Barron’s statement is below:

It was with enormous surprise that I received word of my appointment as auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, but it is with a humble and joyful heart that I accept it. The Church of Los Angeles - the most populous in the United States-is energetic, diverse, and creative. Over the years, I’ve visited many times, including multiple trips to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim; most recently, I was in the Archdiocese for a lecture at Thomas Aquinas College. So though I can’t claim to know it well, I have been able to taste and see some of its richness.

The late Francis Cardinal George - the spiritual grandfather of Word on Fire - was a mentor and friend to me. The mission closest to his heart was the evangelization of the culture, bringing Christ to the arenas of media, politics, law, education, the arts, etc. I can’t think of a more exciting field for this sort of work than Los Angeles, which is certainly one of the great cultural centers of our time.

Many might be wondering what this means for the important work of Word on Fire. The short answer is that it will certainly continue! Through the ministrations of Fr. Steve Grunow and his extremely gifted staff, we will keep bringing you my regular articles, sermons, videos, and media resources.

We have so many new projects in the works, including our new film and study program on God and atheism, titled The Mystery of God, and our beautiful new documentary series CATHOLICISM: The Pivotal Players. Those projects will continue as planned with more to come in the future.

I am grateful to all of you who follow and support Word on Fire, using our content to form yourselves and share the Catholic Faith. I thank God each and every day for you.

It is a blessing for me to work with you to introduce people to Jesus Christ and invite them to share all the gifts he wants his people to enjoy.

Please pray for me as I begin this new adventure under the Lord’s providence.

Bishop-Elect Robert Barron
July 21, 2015

[defconw]

Amen!

[defconw]

Interesting development to say the least.

[markomalley]

>>>>>>My bad... I took your comment as from a Protestant prospective.

It’s all good.And you bring up a good point about “once saved...”

[markomalley]

>>>>>>>Please do go on with this.

Posting from my phone. I won’t be able to properly respond till this evening.