Michael C. Barber

The Most Reverend Michael Charles Barber SJ
Bishop of Oakland
Barber in 2020
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Oakland
Appointed	May 3, 2013
Installed	May 25, 2013
Predecessor	Salvatore Cordileone
Orders
Ordination	June 8, 1985
Consecration	May 25, 2013 by Salvatore J. Cordileone, Carlos Arthur Sevilla, Thomas Anthony Daly
Personal details
Born	(1954-07-13) July 13, 1954 (age 67) Salt Lake City, Utah
Nationality	American
Denomination	Catholic
Parents	Adlai and Dolores Barber
Motto	"DEUS MISERICORDIARUM PATER" (God the Father of Mercies)

Styles of Michael Charles Barber
Reference style	His Excellency The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Michael Charles Barber, SJ (born July 13, 1954) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church serving as the fifth and current Bishop of Oakland.

Life and career[]

Early life and education[]

After attending Saint Pius X Preparatory School in Galt, California, Barber entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1973. After beginning his studies at Loyola Marymount University, he received his BA in Philosophy and History at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington in 1978. From 1982 to 1985 he studied sacred theology at Regis College at the University of Toronto. In 1989, he obtained a licentiate in systematic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Ordination and ministry[]

Barber was ordained a priest for the Society of Jesus on June 8, 1985. He made his final vows in 2005. After ordination he held the following positions: missionary in Apia, Western Samoa (1985-1987), assistant professor at the Gregorianum (1990-1991); tutor and chaplain at the University of Oxford in England and bursar of the Jesuit community at Campion Hall (1992-1998), director of the School of Pastoral Leadership for the Archdiocese of San Francisco (California) with residence at Saint Agnes Parish, and then, at the Saint Ignatius College in San Francisco (1998-2001); professor and spiritual director at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park (2002-2010). Since 1991 he is also a chaplain in the U.S. Naval Reserve, achieving the rank of captain. Barber had been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and was invested as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre and a Magistral Chaplain of the Order of Malta.^[1]

In 2010 he became the director of Spiritual Formation at Saint John's Seminary in Brighton in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Bishop of Oakland[]

On May 3, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Barber as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland. He was consecrated and installed on May 25, 2013. Barber, who is a Jesuit, was the first American bishop appointed by Pope Francis, who is the first Jesuit pope.^[2]

Besides English, he speaks Italian, French, Samoan, liturgical Spanish and Latin.^[1][3]

Parishioners were upset over his conservative leanings and that he ordered the replacement of two priests,^[4] one of whom publicly identifies as gay while remaining celibate.^[5]

In 2019, Barber positioned himself against the proposed California State Senate Bill 360, which would require priests to break the seal of confession and report sexual abuse of minors. He was quoted "I will go to jail before I will obey this attack on our religious freedom.".^[6]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland official website
• Bishop Barber, Diocese of Oakland
• Pope Names Jesuit as Bishop of Oakland
• Pope names Jesuit to lead Oakland diocese
• "Space" Oddity – Cali Jesuit in Boston Launched to Oakland
• NOMINA DEL VESCOVO DI OAKLAND (U.S.A.)

Episcopal succession[]