Bishop Robert Barron says Charlie Kirk ‘died with a microphone in his hand,’ as faith under attack
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital after delivering his Red Mass homily to Minnesota’s Catholic lawyers and judges, Bishop Robert Barron
warned that the brutal murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk represents a cultural breaking point for America — not only because of the tragedy itself, but because it symbolizes an assault on free speech and civil dialogue.
Barron argued that Kirk’s killing is resonating so strongly because “he died not with a gun or a knife or a grenade in his hand, but a microphone.” To Barron, the attack reveals that something “basic to our civilization is in danger of being lost.”
Speaking inside St. Paul Cathedral, Barron said Kirk’s death “shook the foundations” of American civic life because it struck at the heart of free and open dialogue. “Each human being is a subject of infinite dignity, and without that recognition, conversation devolves into violence.”
Barron described Kirk as “a man of great intelligence, charm, and goodness of heart.” Charlie, he said, embodied a tradition of open debate stretching back to the roots of Western civilization.
“Charlie, as thousands of videos on YouTube attest, was committed to open dialogue, particularly on college campuses.”
The bishop explained that this tradition rests on two bedrock assumptions: the dignity of the individual and the objectivity of truth.”
There is a rational structure to the world and moral values to which anyone, by virtue of being a rational creature, can appeal.”
Both principles, he added, are grounded in God. “Thomas Jefferson knew that human rights were rooted in this divine soil: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights’.”
Barron said Kirk himself understood that faith was central: “He always made it clear that the most important thing in his life—the thing he most wanted to be remembered for—was not his party affiliation or political philosophy but his Christian faith.”
This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr.
