Auxiliary Bishops Joseph Brennan and Robert Barron pray during their Sept. 8 episcopal ordination at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. Not pictured is Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, who was also ordained. (CNS photo/John Rueda, The Tidings)
Los Angeles — Robert Barron was one of three men ordained as auxiliary bishops to help shepherd the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest in the United States. Archbishop Jose Gomez, together with Archbishop Cupich and retired Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Sartoris of Los Angeles, ordained Bishops Barron, Joseph Brennan and David O’Connell to the episcopacy Sept. 8 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, presented the mandates from the Apostolic See. More than 500 Los Angeles and Chicago priests and 45 bishops from throughout the United States — including Cardinal Roger Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles — concelebrated the Mass. “Our Holy Father has said that there are three basic qualities that we should look for in a bishop,” Archbishop Gomez said in his homily to the thousands that filled the cathedral. “As the famous expression indicates: ‘If he is holy, let him pray for us. If he is learned, let him teach us. And if he is prudent, let him govern us,’” the archbishop said. “So today we rejoice! Because we will ordain three fine priests, chosen because they are men of prayer, intelligence and prudence.” Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God anointed the three men to be “successors of the Apostles and pastors of souls — to teach, sanctify and nourish the family of God,” the archbishop said. He encouraged the new bishops to never forget where they come from and to never think that being a bishop makes them better or above anyone else. Being a bishop is a privilege of service, the archbishop said. People come to bishops seeking friends, brothers and fathers. But above all, they come seeking the “face of God.” “Mercy is the face of God,” the archbishop said. “So mercy must be the way of your ministry as bishops.” Father John Muir, a former student and now friend of Bishop Barron, traveled from the Diocese of Phoenix to attend the ordination. “That energy to evangelize is here,” he said. “It’s a beautiful signal from Pope Francis that the pastoral life is evangelical. Everything about Christian life is about spreading the good news of our Lord.” Bishop Barron was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and began serving as associate pastor at St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Park Ridge. He later became rector/president of Mundelein Seminary/University of St. Mary of the Lake in the Archdiocese of Chicago. “I am filled with gratitude to Pope Francis and to Archbishop Gomez for the confidence they have placed in me,” Bishop Barron said. “I am also very excited at the prospect of serving the good people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and working with the priests and pastoral ministers who serve here.” Bishop Barron is the founder of Word on Fire, a global media ministry that has been spreading the message of the new evangelization since 2000. “I see my fundamental role as proclaiming Jesus Christ, risen Lord and fulfillment of the deepest desires of the human heart,” Bishop Barron said. “And I invoke the help of Our Lady of the Angels as I commence my ministry.”