New rector announced for Mundelein Seminary

The Rev. Robert L. Barron has been named the rector-president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

Cardinal Francis George named Barron to the position effective July 1. Barron had been serving as the Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary and as the founding director of “Word on Fire” Catholic ministries, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Barron is a native of Chicago.

He joined the full-time faculty of Mundelein Seminary in 1992 and has taught at the seminary ever since.

He succeeds Msgr. Dennis J. Lyle, who was rector for six years.

Barron was an associate pastor of St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Park Ridge before moving to the Mundelein Seminary.

As part of “Word on Fire,” Barron created the television series ‘Catholicism,’ which has been aired on public television.