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Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith
What is Catholicism? A two-thousand-year-old living tradition? A worldview? A way of life? A relationship? A mystery? In Catholicism, Bishop Robert Barron examines all these questions and more, seeking to capture the body, heart, and mind of the Catholic faith.
Starting from the essential foundation of Jesus Christ’s Incarnation, life, and teaching, Bishop Barron moves through the defining elements of Catholicism—from sacraments, worship, and prayer, to Mary, the Apostles, and saints, to grace, salvation, heaven, and hell—using his distinct and dynamic grasp of art, literature, architecture, personal stories, Scripture, theology, philosophy, and history to present the Church to the world.
Paired with his documentary film series of the same title, Catholicism is an intimate journey capturing “the Catholic thing” in all its depth and beauty. Eclectic, unique, and inspiring, Bishop Barron brings the faith to life for a new generation in a style that is faithful to timeless truths while simultaneously speaking in the language of contemporary life.
Starting from the essential foundation of Jesus Christ’s Incarnation, life, and teaching, Bishop Barron moves through the defining elements of Catholicism—from sacraments, worship, and prayer, to Mary, the Apostles, and saints, to grace, salvation, heaven, and hell—using his distinct and dynamic grasp of art, literature, architecture, personal stories, Scripture, theology, philosophy, and history to present the Church to the world.
Paired with his documentary film series of the same title, Catholicism is an intimate journey capturing “the Catholic thing” in all its depth and beauty. Eclectic, unique, and inspiring, Bishop Barron brings the faith to life for a new generation in a style that is faithful to timeless truths while simultaneously speaking in the language of contemporary life.
309 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2025
123 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Robert Barron
217 books854 followersBishop Robert Emmet Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is the former Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago and also is the founder of Word On Fire (www.WordOnFire.org).
Bishop Barron is the creator and host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking ten-part documentary series and study program about the Catholic faith. He is a passionate student of art, architecture, music and history, which he calls upon throughout his global travels in the making of the documentary.
Word On Fire programs are broadcast regularly on WGN America, Relevant Radio, CatholicTV, EWTN, the popular Word on Fire YouTube Channel, and the Word on Fire website, which offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries, and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts. In 2010, Father Barron was the first priest to have a national show on a secular television network since the 1950s.
Fr. Barron received his Masters Degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC in 1982 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Catholique in 1992. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and has been a professor of systematic theology at the nation's largest Catholic seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary since 1992. He was visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in 2002 and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.
In addition, Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad. Cardinal Francis George calls Fr. Barron “one of the Church’s best messengers.
Fr. Barron was baptized at Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago and grew up at St. John of the Cross parish in Western Springs, Illinois.
WordOnFire.org - Fr. Barron's website launched in 1999 and currently draws over 1 million visitors a year from every continent. Fr. Barron posts weekly video clips, commentaries and radio sermons and offers an audio archive of over 500 homilies. Podcasts of his sermons are widely used by tens of thousands of visitors each month.
TV - EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network) and CatholicTV broadcasts Fr. Barron's DVDs to a worldwide audience of over 150 million people.
Radio - Since 1999, Fr. Barron's weekly Word on Fire program has been broadcast in Chicago (WGN) and throughout the country (Relevant Radio - 950 AM Chicago) to 28 million listeners in 17 states. Fr. Barron also is a regular commentator on the "Busted Halo Show" on the Sirius satellite radio network based in New York.
DVDs - Fr. Barron's DVDs are used as powerful faith formation tools in universities, schools, churches and homes around the country. The series includes Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues; Faith Clips; Conversion: Following the Call of Christ; and Untold Blessing: Three Paths to Holiness.
YouTube - With over 180 online video commentaries by Fr. Barron, over 1 million viewers worldwide have made him the most popular of any evangelist on YouTube. These frequent, high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies such as No Country for Old Men, Apocalypto, and The Departed, a three-part critical review of Christopher Hitchen's book God is Not Great, The Discovery Channel's The Jesus Tomb, the HBO series "The Sopranos", "Rome" and more.
Missions - MISSION CHICAGO features evangelization lectures by Fr. Barron at the behest of Cardinal George. These special missions and presentations throughout the Archdiocese are centered in downtown Chicago and attract business, civic, and cultural leaders.
Books - His numerous books and essays serve as critical educational and inspirational tools for seminarians, priests, parishioners and young people worldwide. His published works are also central to the numerous retreats, workshop and talks that h
Bishop Barron is the creator and host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking ten-part documentary series and study program about the Catholic faith. He is a passionate student of art, architecture, music and history, which he calls upon throughout his global travels in the making of the documentary.
Word On Fire programs are broadcast regularly on WGN America, Relevant Radio, CatholicTV, EWTN, the popular Word on Fire YouTube Channel, and the Word on Fire website, which offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries, and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts. In 2010, Father Barron was the first priest to have a national show on a secular television network since the 1950s.
Fr. Barron received his Masters Degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC in 1982 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Catholique in 1992. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and has been a professor of systematic theology at the nation's largest Catholic seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary since 1992. He was visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in 2002 and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.
In addition, Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad. Cardinal Francis George calls Fr. Barron “one of the Church’s best messengers.
Fr. Barron was baptized at Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago and grew up at St. John of the Cross parish in Western Springs, Illinois.
WordOnFire.org - Fr. Barron's website launched in 1999 and currently draws over 1 million visitors a year from every continent. Fr. Barron posts weekly video clips, commentaries and radio sermons and offers an audio archive of over 500 homilies. Podcasts of his sermons are widely used by tens of thousands of visitors each month.
TV - EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network) and CatholicTV broadcasts Fr. Barron's DVDs to a worldwide audience of over 150 million people.
Radio - Since 1999, Fr. Barron's weekly Word on Fire program has been broadcast in Chicago (WGN) and throughout the country (Relevant Radio - 950 AM Chicago) to 28 million listeners in 17 states. Fr. Barron also is a regular commentator on the "Busted Halo Show" on the Sirius satellite radio network based in New York.
DVDs - Fr. Barron's DVDs are used as powerful faith formation tools in universities, schools, churches and homes around the country. The series includes Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues; Faith Clips; Conversion: Following the Call of Christ; and Untold Blessing: Three Paths to Holiness.
YouTube - With over 180 online video commentaries by Fr. Barron, over 1 million viewers worldwide have made him the most popular of any evangelist on YouTube. These frequent, high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies such as No Country for Old Men, Apocalypto, and The Departed, a three-part critical review of Christopher Hitchen's book God is Not Great, The Discovery Channel's The Jesus Tomb, the HBO series "The Sopranos", "Rome" and more.
Missions - MISSION CHICAGO features evangelization lectures by Fr. Barron at the behest of Cardinal George. These special missions and presentations throughout the Archdiocese are centered in downtown Chicago and attract business, civic, and cultural leaders.
Books - His numerous books and essays serve as critical educational and inspirational tools for seminarians, priests, parishioners and young people worldwide. His published works are also central to the numerous retreats, workshop and talks that h
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 11, 2026
“Love is not one of God’s attributes or an emotional state that God falls into from time to time; love is the very nature and essence of God. Love is what God is. Therefore, God is like the sun that shines on the good and bad alike and the rain that falls on the just and unjust alike. God doesn’t love in response to our goodness; instead, whatever goodness we have is a consequence of God’s love.”
“Once we see that God is love, we are no longer afraid to risk the path of love.”
“Once we see that God is love, we are no longer afraid to risk the path of love.”
September 8, 2025
The book most responsible for my conversion to Catholicism
This was the first Catholic book I read (about 15 months ago now), and without it, I don’t know that I would be Catholic. I re-read the updated version this year, and will probably re-read it every year. Here is Bishop Barton’s closing paragraph:
“And I have based my life on the knowledge that God speaks with greatest clarity in the Bethlehem baby, too weak to raise his head but more powerful than Caesar Augustus, in the rabbi who, trumping the Torah itself, told all of us how to find beatitude, in the warrior who picked a fight in the Temple precincts, in the young man, tortured to death on a squalid hill outside Jerusalem, with the words, “Father, forgive them,” on his lips, in the risen one who said “Shalom” to those who had abandoned and betrayed him, in Maschiach leshoua, Christ Jesus, the Lord of the nations. To hear the echo of God’s voice in all these things is to be a Catholic.”
This was the first Catholic book I read (about 15 months ago now), and without it, I don’t know that I would be Catholic. I re-read the updated version this year, and will probably re-read it every year. Here is Bishop Barton’s closing paragraph:
“And I have based my life on the knowledge that God speaks with greatest clarity in the Bethlehem baby, too weak to raise his head but more powerful than Caesar Augustus, in the rabbi who, trumping the Torah itself, told all of us how to find beatitude, in the warrior who picked a fight in the Temple precincts, in the young man, tortured to death on a squalid hill outside Jerusalem, with the words, “Father, forgive them,” on his lips, in the risen one who said “Shalom” to those who had abandoned and betrayed him, in Maschiach leshoua, Christ Jesus, the Lord of the nations. To hear the echo of God’s voice in all these things is to be a Catholic.”
December 19, 2025
If you are on any kind of spiritual journey, Catholic or not, this book is worth your time. Over the past several years, I have explored other faiths and philosophical traditions, each offering fragments of insight that ultimately pointed me back to Christ. This book brought those fragments together with remarkable clarity.
What stood out to me was how Robert Barron brings Scripture, theology, history, and reason together into a coherent and compelling vision of the Christian faith. What once felt like loose ends now feel integrated and intelligible. This book is both an excellent starting point for those seeking direction and a refreshing deepening for those who have been walking the path for years.
I did not grow up Catholic and am not Catholic today, but this book gave me a profound new respect for Catholicism and, more importantly, a deeper relationship with Christ. If you are seeking clarity, depth, and a faith that engages both heart and mind, this book delivers.
What stood out to me was how Robert Barron brings Scripture, theology, history, and reason together into a coherent and compelling vision of the Christian faith. What once felt like loose ends now feel integrated and intelligible. This book is both an excellent starting point for those seeking direction and a refreshing deepening for those who have been walking the path for years.
I did not grow up Catholic and am not Catholic today, but this book gave me a profound new respect for Catholicism and, more importantly, a deeper relationship with Christ. If you are seeking clarity, depth, and a faith that engages both heart and mind, this book delivers.
October 10, 2025
THE CATHOLIC FAITH
Barron's book is a wonderful introduction to the Catholic faith. He covers our relationship with Jesus Christ, the Communion of Saints, to Heaven and Hell. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the Catholic faith.
Barron's book is a wonderful introduction to the Catholic faith. He covers our relationship with Jesus Christ, the Communion of Saints, to Heaven and Hell. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the Catholic faith.
November 3, 2025
Brilliant!!!
Bishop Baron has an incredible way of making difficult theology and philosophy easy to understand. This book is a must read to understand the fundamentals of the Catholic faith.
Bishop Baron has an incredible way of making difficult theology and philosophy easy to understand. This book is a must read to understand the fundamentals of the Catholic faith.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews