ROME (OSV News) — Bishop Robert E. Barron met Pope Leo XIV for a private audience at the Vatican Oct 1, describing his first extended, one-on-one conversation with a pope as covering “a lot of different topics.”

The Chicago-born pope opened with a hometown connection, “‘Well, two guys from Chicago,'” Bishop Barron recalled Pope Leo telling him.

“It was just a very comfortable conversation. We covered a lot of different topics, but it was just delightful to be with him and, you know, to be with the successor of Peter and our spiritual father,” he said in a video posted to social media shortly after the meeting in the Apostolic Palace.

In an interview with OSV News the day before the papal audience, Bishop Barron, who has led the Minnesota Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022, reflected on the influence of Pope Leo and signs of renewed religious interest in the United States.

‘His papacy means a lot to our country’

“There is a revival going on for a lot of different reasons and some of that antedated Pope Leo, but I think his papacy means a lot to our country,” Bishop Barron said in the interview at the U.S. Embassy in Italy on Sept. 30.

“When you hear the pope speaking in the dulcet tones of Chicago, I think that has an impact on Americans,” he added, noting that he sees Pope Leo’s presence and charisma positively influencing young people.

“They say, well, look, I can understand this fellow,” he said. “And just his presence, his charisma. And precisely as an American, I think sure has a positive impact on our country.” 

Bishop Barron was in Rome to ordain 18 American seminarians from the Pontifical North American College to the diaconate during an evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 1. In his homily, the bishop told the seminarians to imitate the example of Blessed Fulton Sheen in preaching the Gospel.

“Preaching is not sharing your opinions on culture or politics, not even offering your point of view on matters spiritual, nor is it talking about Jesus or God or the Church,” Bishop Barron said.

How ‘authentic preaching’ happens

“Authentic preaching happens when you allow Jesus to use you to speak his Word to his people,” he emphasized. “You preach when Jesus has so seized your heart, your mind, your personality that he effectively speaks through you. 

Bishop Baron, 66, is the founder of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, a global Catholic media apostolate. He gained national prominence more than a decade ago as the host of the television series “Catholicism” and through his regular YouTube videos exploring popular culture, faith and Catholic teaching. 

His latest documentary, “Heaven in Stone and Glass,” which explores the Gothic cathedrals of France, was shown in U.S. movie theaters on the eve of Pope Leo’s visit to France.

Reflecting on the papal visit, Bishop Barron told OSV News he was particularly moved by the stadium prayer vigil celebrating France’s Catholic heritage attended by 80,000 young people. 

“It was a wonderful celebration of the Catholic culture of France, which I think is much needed today when an aggressive secularism is trying to push religion out,” he said.

A ‘bold reaffirmation’ of France’s Catholic heritage

Bishop Barron described the event as a “bold reaffirmation” of France’s Catholic heritage, adding that he found it especially encouraging that the event was held “in the presence of the Pope, who was clearly moved himself by it.” 

“I think it is part of this trend of revival that you can find all across the West,” he said. “Spiritual hunger meeting social media, which allows us now to reach out to that world. That’s a powerful combination.”

Bishop Barron also said that a papal visit to the U.S. by Pope Leo would be “a wonderful event for our country” that could help revive “the hearts and minds” of American Catholics.

During his visit to the Eternal City, Bishop Barron also addressed diplomats and scholars at an event hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Sept. 30 celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence this year. 

In his remarks, he highlighted President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as examples of prominent Americans whose understanding of public life was shaped by biblical principles. 

‘Points of contact’ between American political sensibility and Catholicism 

“There are very important points of contact between the American political sensibility and Catholicism,” Bishop Barron told OSV News after the event. “It’s not perfectly congruent, but there are important points of contact. You can’t really talk, I think, coherently about freedom and about rights without talking about God. And if God is removed from the conversation, those are severely threatened,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, who also spoke to OSV News after the bishop’s speech, commented on how “Bishop Barron pointed to is this deep compatibility between the Church’s understanding of democracy, of freedom, of rights, of equality, and the American founding.”

“There’s some real, I think, specialness to that compatibility that I think is worthwhile thinking about as we map where this papacy will go and how the Holy Father will be thinking about these very important questions that are important to the United States,” the ambassador added.

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.