The visible, if it does attain this level of real aesthetic quality,

it draws you through it toward the invisible source of all beauty, toward the pure form, if you want, who is God?

Welcome back to The Word on Fire Show. I'm Brandon Vott, the Senior Publishing Director at Word on Fire.

There's been a shocking uptick in the number of people around the world destroying famous pieces of art,

which has raised a lot of questions about the value and the purpose of art.

So that's what we're going to discuss today with his Excellency Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop of the Diocese of Winona Rochester.

Bishop, good to be with you.

Hey Brandon, always a joy to be with you too.

Wanted to update people on a couple things in your life. One is you just had this big press conference announcing something exciting in your diocese.

I thought you could share it with all of our listeners here.

Yeah, we're moving our pastoral center from Winona to Rochester.

So about four years ago, our diocese became the diocese of Winona Rochester and Parish in that city was named the Co-Cathedral.

So we kind of anticipated this move a few years ago.

It's been thought about for a long time. So when I arrived here, I knew it was kind of in the works, but through the generosity of a particular donor, we have the land and the funds.

And we really do need it. And for a variety of reasons, it's a good idea to move from Winona to Rochester.

So I announced it and we have a Minnesota winter intervening, but we'll probably start the serious building process in the spring and then about a year from that point.

It should be finished. So hoping about a year and a half from now, we'll have our new pastoral center, which is much needed in wonderful Rochester.

You shared some of the architectural renderings. And I think the feature that the most attention was the chapel there had this beautiful rose window, which I know is central to your spirituality.

Yeah, and I really wanted the building to be not just a bland office building, but to have something of the Catholic spirit, because it'll be right there in the, you know, not quite downtown Rochester,

but near the heart of things. And I wanted it to be evangelical that people going by was, hey, what's that building? Oh, it's got a Catholic ethos and spirit. So looking forward to that.

Well, second exciting development is that just a few days before this episode airs, it marks the launch of your newest book. And it's titled The Great Story of Israel, election freedom holiness.

This book offers a theological and spiritual commentary on the first half of the old testament. And I know Bishop, this was your big COVID project of all the evil and suffering that came out of that terrible pandemic.

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