Bishop Robert Barron Announced as the 2025 Commencement Speaker -

By Zachary Lichter

Last year, Jonathan Roumie from The Chosen was the keynote speaker at the 2024 Commencement Ceremony. As the Class of 2025 gets ready for graduation, they hoped that The Catholic University of America would find someone just as good or even better than Roumie. On April 7, President Peter Kilpatrick emailed the CUA community that Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester is this year’s keynote speaker for graduation on May 17.

Dylan Brett, a senior politics major, commented on Bishop Barron being this year’s commencement speaker.

“I am excited for him to be our speaker,” Brett said. “I think it will be a homecoming for him as he gets to see the next generation of leaders coming from his Alma Mater. I think he will give a great speech and ensure that our university continues to be Christ centered.”

Bishop Barron is a CUA alumnus who graduated with a master’s degree in philosophy in 1982. He was ordained a priest in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago. In 1992, he served on the theological faculty at Mundelein Seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois.

As he continued to be a member of the theological faculty at Mundelein Seminary, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Bishop Barron then came back to Mundelein Seminary in 2012 where he became the Rector of the seminary and President of the University of St. Mary of the Lake.

The late Pope Francis appointed him on July 21, 2015 to be an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was ordained as a bishop on September 8, 2015. Then the Holy Father appointed Bishop Barron on July 2, 2022 as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.

During Bishop Barron’s ministry as priest and bishop, he has also had a big media presence as well. Many Catholics know him as the host and creator of the Public Broadcasting Company documentary, CATHOLICISM, which is a ten-part series on him exploring how the Catholic faith is practiced in other parts of the world. He is also known for writing many books, most notably, This Is My Body, which has over 1 million copies sold.

Today most people know him as the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He started it in 2022 as an evangelical resource for Catholics to dive deeper into their faith. Today people can go onto WordonFire.org where they can read weekly articles about the Catholic faith. They can also watch videos of his homilies and public conversations.

People can also listen to the Word on Fire Show podcast, which features him and Dr. Matthew Petrusek, a Catholic Ethics professor, where they discuss faith and culture. Bishop Barron has even reached out to the Catholics across the world with the Word on Fire YouTube page where he posts his Sunday homilies.

So as the class of 2025 gets ready for graduation, expect to hear Bishop Barron light the Word on Fire with his commencement speech. Expect to see him pour out his words of wisdom with his background as a priest, bishop, professor, and a human being. The class of 2025 will receive wisdom from many people at graduation, but none will be as memorable as his.

Dylan Brett, a senior politics major, commented on Bishop Barron being this year’s commencement speaker.

Christian Rubio, a senior politics major also commented on Bishop Barron being this year’s commencement speaker.

“I am very happy that Bishop Barron will be our commencement speaker,” Rubio said. “He is certainly among the most insightful and faith-filled Catholics in public life. He speaks incredibly well to what young people are looking for in the Church.”