Bishop Robert Barron Video Screengrab / YouTube
CV NEWS FEED // Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, is set to deliver the 2025 commencement speech for his alma mater, The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C.
According to an April 7 article on its website, the university will award Bishop Barron with an honorary degree at the ceremony, which will commence at 10 a.m. May 17. The article said 1,300 undergraduates and graduates will receive their degrees.
Bishop Barron said that he is honored to accept the opportunity to speak at the event and looking forward to returning to the university.
In an April 8 Facebook video post, he encouraged the prospective graduates to embrace their vocations as they set out from the university. He noted the Second Vatican Council’s document Lumen Gentium called for the laity to live out their Catholic faith in their secular occupations, helping to sanctify the world.
“Your time at CUA has well laid the foundation for you to answer this call as great Catholic lawyers, teachers, doctors, writers, journalists, investors, parents and more,” he said.
The bishop also encouraged the graduating class to revere the university motto, Deus Lux Mea Est, or “God is my light.”
“Remember these words as you venture out into the world, leading with light in your every endeavor,” he said.
Bishop Barron graduated from CUA with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1981. He earned a master’s degree in philosophy from the university in 1982. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and to the episcopate in 2015. A passionate online evangelizer, he is widely recognized for his Word on Fire ministry and has almost two million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
In the April 7 article, Bishop Barron expressed his support for the graduates and the education they have received at the university.
“As I return to my alma mater,” he said, “I am confident that the newest generation of graduates are well prepared to become great Catholic professionals eager to sanctify the world.”
