Chicago priest Father
Robert Barron has a dream -- for another grand, sweeping documentary on
Catholicism. It's the latest goal for the priest who more than a dozen
years ago was asked to jump-start an evangelical endeavor to "invade
that space" where the church's message was not often heard.
"If you want
to reach people who are under 40, you have to use media. Things like
YouTube had just come into being and we jumped into that with two feet,"
said Father Barron.
"If you want to find the unchurched Catholics and
the secularists, you aren't going to find them by staying in church and
inviting them to programs. You have to use this new means. We have to
invade that space."
The author of 10 books and a weekly radio
commentator, Father Barron brings to YouTube and the web a Catholic
perspective on mainstream cultural events, from blockbuster movies like
"World War Z" to same-sex marriage.
He has posted more than 180 videos
online and his viewers have topped a million.
Father Barron in 2000
founded the nonprofit Word on Fire that supports his efforts to draw
people to the Catholic faith through new media.
According to tax
records, the nonprofit in 2011 had nearly $5 million in revenue
generated by his diverse teaching tools, funds that go to support the
mission of Word on Fire.