Bishop Robert Barron
Bishop Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Premier Christian Radio in the UK just sponsored a survey that investigated how the COVID crisis has affected religious beliefs and attitudes. There were three major findings — namely, that 67 per cent of those who characterize themselves as “religious” found their belief in God challenged, that almost a quarter said the pandemic made them more fearful of death, and that around a third of those surveyed said that their prayer life had been affected by the crisis.
Bishop Robert Barron: Looking for God in a Reddit world
One of the most popular websites in the world, Reddit, is a forum for all sorts of online conversations and presentations. The AMA (for Ask Me Anything) is a 21st- century version of the medieval quodlibetal questions, during which a game theology professor would entertain any inquiry that came from the floor.
An architect’s quest for ‘transcendence’
Though I reside in Santa Barbara, I am in Los Angeles a good deal for meetings and other events. When I’m in the city, I like to walk the downtown neighbourhood. My favourite building to look at while I’m on these strolls is the Walt Disney Concert Hall, home base of the L.A. Philharmonic and the creation of Canadian Frank Gehry, probably the best-known architect in the world.
The Revenant and higher justice
Alejandro Iñárritu’s new film The Revenant is one of the most talked about movies, and for good reason. The opening 20 minutes, which feature a frighteningly realistic Indian attack and a horrifically vivid mauling by a grizzly bear, are absolutely compelling viewing. And the remainder of the film is so involving that this viewer at least felt physically sick as he followed the sufferings of the main character.
It would do us well to ‘look higher’
Conservation International has sponsored a series of videos that have become YouTube sensations. They feature famous actors — Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Robert Redford and others — voicing different aspects of the natural world, from the ocean, to the rain forest, to redwood trees. The most striking is the one that presents Mother Nature herself, given voice by Julia Roberts.
No enemy of capitalism
Following publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and his recent speeches in Latin America, many supporters of capitalism might be forgiven for thinking His Holiness has something against them.
The will to power won’t solve our difficulties
C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and their colleagues wanted to write fiction that would effectively “evangelize the imagination,” accustoming minds, especially of young people, to the Gospel. Accordingly, Tolkien’s Gandalf is a figure of Jesus the prophet and Lewis’ Aslan is a representation of Christ as both sacrificial victim and victorious king. Happily, the film versions of both The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia have been wildly popular all over the world.
Cinderella’s Christian symbolism
Released before Easter, Cinderella is the most surprising Hollywood movie of the year so far.
Doctrine sprouts and grows
The controversies surrounding the recent extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family have often put me in mind of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the greatest Catholic churchman of the 19th century. Newman wrote eloquently on an extraordinary range of topics, but the arguments around the Synod compel us to look at Newman’s work regarding the evolution of doctrine.