Pioneering Word on Fire website
taps into technology to reach faithful

By Kenneth J. Souza, Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER, Mass. — It’s not often that a priest gets to one-up the pope, but Father Robert Barron inadvertently did by founding Word on Fire, a popular evangelical website, ten years ago.

While the Holy Father just recently started taking advantage of such Internet-based technology as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube via his own website, www.pope2you.net, Father Barron had the foresight to see the benefits of reaching out to greater numbers of Catholics through the world wide web a decade earlier.

“We welcomed the pope to YouTube and said ‘we’re ahead of you, Holy Father,’” Father Barron joked. “But I agree it’s something the Church has been behind on. Why not use these amazing technologies? You go on the Internet and just like that, 24/7, you’re all over the world. I just think this is the way we have to go. I have been giving talks all around the country for years but I can’t gather the number of people in a room that I can reach through one YouTube video. It’s the way we have to go if we’re serious about evangelizing the next generation.”

Father Barron’s slick and compelling site, www.wordonfire.org, initially began as a promotional tool for a series of radio programs he was doing in Chicago. It started simply as a vehicle to post his weekly sermons, but eventually grew in both popularity and scope. In turn, his radio series also gained popularity and was picked up by Relevant Radio, a national Catholic syndicate, and the website started getting national attention.

“Then we branched out with some help from generous donors and I realized that YouTube, for example, was a great venue for hosting little commentaries and reactions to popular culture and movies and books and what’s going on,” Father Barron told The Anchor from Lourdes, where he is currently working on his latest project. “So we began to post those things on the website. This has all gradually evolved over the last ten years.”

Father Barron’s posted video commentaries, audio sermons and written updates cover a wide range of topics and media, offering his unique insights on everything from William P. Young’s recent bestseller “The Shack” and the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” to the HBO series’ “The Sopranos” and the recent controversy over President Barack Obama’s speech at Notre Dame. But he also chimes in on more traditional Church-related topics such as the PBS ban on religious programming and his interpretation of the pope’s recent encyclical “Caritas in Veritate.”

“I talk about elements of religion, theology and philosophy but I also try to touch on elements of popular culture which is where people are at,” Father Barron said. “I talk about movies, books, TV shows — I think you can find religious themes all over the place. I also think the goal in using YouTube — where you have the good, the bad and the ugly — is to try to get a religious point of view out there as well.”

“Father Barron really reaches out to such a broad spectrum,” said Chad Vella, a parishioner at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Westwood, Mass. “It’s a very unique combination, because he knows where the heart of today’s Catholics are and he speaks to that, but he’s also drawing upon the timeless wisdom of the Church.”

Vella first discovered Word on Fire while searching for Catholic-related websites online. He was so impressed with the site that he has since become a local ambassador for the online ministry.

“The ambassador program was the brainchild of a wonderful staff member of mine,” Father Barron said. “She suggested we get an ambassador in every country and every state in America. So we’ve tried to do that to help spread the word about Word on Fire. The great thing about the Internet is it’s all free-of-charge. We’re not asking for any money, we’re just saying here’s something we’re doing, come check it out.”

Father Barron’s latest project — and the reason he is currently in Lourdes — is a ten-part documentary series called “The Catholicism Project.” The series includes segments from Rome, Israel, France, Germany, Poland and Spain and has been hailed by writer George Weigel as “one of the most significant efforts ever to advance what Pope John Paul II called ‘The New Evangelization.’”

“We’re looking at the great themes of Catholicism,” Father Barron said. “We’re a true religion, we’re a theologically-rich religion, and we’re also a beautiful religion. We use art, we use color and architecture and imagery, so I’m trying to go to these places to show what I’m discussing. We’re in Lourdes now to talk about Mary and to talk about prayer. We just finished shooting in Spain where we talked about spiritual life and prayer using John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila and the sites associated with them.”

Once completed, “The Catholicism Project” will be made available as a DVD series and hopefully aired on TV at some point. “It’s a challenge to get on mainstream TV, but I’m going to try,” Father Barron said. “I want to reach as many people as possible.”

Although Father Barron has already reached countless people through radio, television and now the Internet, he continues to spread the Gospel on a daily basis.

“Father Barron really has a very unique way of expressing himself and he’s always positive, always intelligent and wise,” said Vella, who agreed the Church needs to continue using modern technology to spread the faith to the younger generation.

“It’s so easy and accessible these days to go to something like YouTube or the Word on Fire website,” he said. “I think the Church really needs to be involved with YouTube and on Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter because that’s where people are right now and we have to go meet them where they are.”

Taken from The Anchor, The Official Catholic Weekly Newspaper of the Fall River, Massachusetts Diocese