New bishop, new headquarters, new goals for Diocese of Winona-Rochester

ROCHESTER - Robert Barron can still remember the first conversation he had with Bishop John Quinn, his predecessor at the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.

Barron, who was appointed bishop of southern Minnesota's diocese last year, said the first thing Quinn said after congratulating him was, "You know, we're going to build a pastoral center in Rochester."

Catholic officials broke ground on that pastoral center last week, continuing the changes in the diocese's fortunes since emerging from bankruptcy. With a new bishop, a new home under construction in northwest Rochester and plans in place to reach more people, church officials are renewing their push to be more accessible to southern Minnesotans.

"It's a culmination of a long process, and it lifts up a lot of the priests," Barron said. "It's something really positive."

Barron, 63, is no stranger to the Midwest. He grew up in Chicago and served in Illinois for decades before he was named auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He's more known for his online presence — he started the Catholic media company Word on Fire in 2000 and helped produce an award-winning documentary on Catholicism in 2011.

The conversation to move the southern Minnesota seat of the Catholic Church from Winona to Rochester started about seven years before Barron moved to Minnesota.

The diocese has existed in one form or another since the late 19^th century, and as part of other dioceses going back to 1837. Since 1952, its home parish has been the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona. Yet church officials have debated shifting the diocese headquarters west, as most of the Catholics in the diocese live between Mankato and Rochester.

"To be closer, to be more present, to be more available to them is just a benefit to everyone," said Monica Herman, executive director of the Catholic Foundation of Southern Minnesota. Herman and other church officials worked on the move for years but shelved the proposal after the diocese declared bankruptcy in 2018 to address clergy sex abuse claims.

The diocese settled claims against it in 2021 and emerged from bankruptcy soon after. An $8 million gift from longtime Rochester donors Jack and Mary Ann Remick sped up the timetable for the new pastoral center, which will be near the corner of 19^th Street NW. and Valleyhigh Drive, next to other Catholic institutions such as Lourdes High School. Also nearby is the Jeremiah Program, which supports single mothers and their children.

If construction goes well, the new center should be up and running by May 2024.

The Rev. Will Thompson, who serves as vicar general for the diocese, acknowledged the move would be a loss for Winona, but said the city will still have a Catholic presence in the cathedral and seminary program, along with St. Mary's University of Minnesota.

"There's excitement to be here as well," he said of the move to Rochester.

During a groundbreaking ceremony, Barron nodded to the diocese's history by wearing a pectoral cross that belonged to Patrick Heffron, the diocese's second bishop. He also wore robes that former Bishop Edward Fitzgerald used during the groundbreaking for the Winona cathedral in the '50s.

Barron is also looking to the future. His Word on Fire company has leased offices in downtown Rochester, and he's leading plans for a Eucharistic Congress in June in Mankato, as well as expanding vocations and evangelization.

"The church is still a presence in this community," Barron said. "We're here to stay."