Bishop Barron celebrates Catholicism’s ties to America, meets with Pope Leo
At the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, Bishop Robert Barron presented the nation’s 250th anniversary as an occasion to celebrate the relationship between the Catholic faith and the U.S.
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, reflected on the connection between the Catholic faith and America’s founding principles in a Sept. 30 address marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Speaking at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, the bishop explored the country’s moral and religious foundations.
“I speak to you today as both a proud American and a proud bishop of the Catholic Church,” Bishop Barron said in his address.
He presented the nation’s semiquincentennial as an opportunity to celebrate the connection between the faith and American tradition.
“To be sure, Catholicism and America has had a somewhat rocky relationship over the past two and a half centuries. And their rapport has been variously interpreted,” he said. “But I do indeed believe there’s a deep compatibility that’s worth celebrating in this anniversary year.”
Following the address, Bishop Barron noted the gathering’s representation from diplomatic and academic communities and reflected on what drew him to the subject.
“This theme I developed today is one that has been on my mind and heart a lot as a Catholic bishop and as an American,” he said. “Today, I explored the philosophical roots of our country in basic moral and religious assumptions.”
During his speech, he called to mind Blessed Fulton Sheen’s remarks on the place of God in the nation’s founding.
“The recently Blessed Fulton J. Sheen said memorably that the Declaration of Independence is, ‘also a declaration of dependence upon God,’” Bishop Barron said.
The bishop also pointed to the spiritual hunger of younger generations.
“The last couple generations have been getting this message of nihilism, materialism, scientism, the new atheism,” he said. “And once they take that in, they realize what an empty view of life that is: ‘We come from nowhere. We’re going nowhere. Life has no meaning. There’s no moral value,’ and I think they’re just starving therefore for the spiritual.”
Bishop Barron noted that he met with fellow Illinois native Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 1 in a private audience. The bishop said it was his first extended conversation with a pope.
“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Well, two guys from Chicago,’ and it was just a very comfortable conversation,” Bishop Barron said. “We covered a lot of different topics, but it was just a delight to be with him and to be with the successor of Peter and our spiritual father.”
In his own letter marking America’s 250th anniversary, Pope Leo reflected on Catholics’ service to the nation, as Zeale News previously reported.
“May this milestone renew the shared commitment to the promise of freedom, justice, opportunity and democracy,” the Pontiff wrote. “May Americans honor the courage and vision of those who came before them by strengthening their communities, respecting their differences and working together toward a more perfect union.”
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