Robert Barron was recently appointed to be the new bishop of Winona-Rochester, after having served as an auxiliary bishop in California for the last several years. Green Bay Bishop David Ricken welcomed him to the area.

“Congratulations Bishop Barron on your appointment as the ninth bishop of the @WinonaRochester Diocese,” Ricken said in a tweet this week. “You’re not so far away from the @GreenBayDiocese now & that's a very good thing - Great to have you in the neighborhood!” 

Barron's installation Mass will take place on Friday, July 29. 

Pope Francis announced the appointment in a Thursday release on the Diocese of Winona-Rochester’s website. Barron is a native of the Midwest, spending much of his youth in and around Detroit and Chicago. He was ordained on May 24, 1986. 

“I am overjoyed and humbled to receive this new assignment as the ninth bishop of Winona-Rochester," Barron said in the release. "I look forward immensely to getting to know the good people, priests, and pastoral ministers of the diocese."

One of the biggest changes will be the climate, but Barron said he's ready for it.

"I will have to brush off my Chicago winter coat, which has remained unused for the past six years in Santa Barbara!" he said. "My fondest hope is that I might be a good spiritual father to all the Catholics of southern Minnesota.” 

Barron created the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries more than 20 years ago, the release said. Through it, he shares the Gospel with more than 3.1 million Facebook followers; 517,000 YouTube subscribers; 349,000 Instagram followers; and 198,000 Twitter followers. Barron is the first priest since Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen to have a regular national TV program. 

Barron is replacing Bishop John M. Quinn, who is retiring after leading the Diocese of Winona-Rochester for 13 years, a report from Catholic Review said this week. Bishops are required to resign at the age of 75.

“I am filled with joy that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Robert Barron as the 9th Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester,” Quinn said in the Winona-Rochester release. “His commitment to evangelization and missionary discipleship will bear great fruit in the coming years.”