Bishop Barron slams ‘clownish irrelevance’ of German Catholic academy in blistering statement

Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron this week issued a sharply critical statement of what he described as “inane” controversy involving a German Catholic institution from which he received an award in 2025.

Barron received the Josef Pieper Prize in Münster in July 2025, a decision that generated protests from Catholic groups and political organizations . The protesters criticized the bishop as promoting “exclusionary identity politics,” among other allegations.

The German news website katholisch.de reported on Oct. 21 that Barron’s 2025 receipt of the award was “still having repercussions.” It cited the Josef Pieper Foundation as reportedly having “acknowledged mistakes” in how it handled the controversy; the foundation is also reportedly developing a conference “on Barron and his theology.”

In a statement posted to X on Oct. 22, Barron quipped: “Gosh, I’d love to attend this debate. But I’m pretty sure I have a MAGA rally to attend that night…”

“If you have any doubt that the German Catholic academy has fallen into clownish irrelevance, look no further than this inane and ginned-up ‘controversy,’” the Chicago-born prelate wrote.

Tweet He critically…