Barron answers Vesco: "Sure sounds like conversion to me"
The Bishop of Winona-Rochester replies on X to the Archbishop of Algiers, who said the Church is not there "to convert"
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota, USA), founder of Word on Fire, responded in a long post on X (29 October 2026) to Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco OP, Archbishop of Algiers.
In an interview with CathoBel published on 23 October, Vesco described the Church in Muslim-majority Algeria as "the Church of this people. Not a proselytising Church, not a Church that is there to convert", calling proselytism between monotheistic religions "poison" and fraternity "the only worthwhile option".
What Barron said
"Well, another Cardinal has come out with a, shall we say, puzzling take on evangelization," Barron wrote, recalling that Cardinal Américo Aguiar, then auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, said before World Youth Day 2023 that organizers had no interest in converting anyone to Christ.
"Excuse me, but…what?" Barron quoted Matthew 28:18-20 ("Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…"): "Sure sounds like conversion to me."
He pointed to St Paul's preaching in Corinth, Athens and Thessalonica, quoting 1 Corinthians 9:22 ("I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some") and 9:16 ("woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel"). He added that "the entire thrust of the Second Vatican Council was toward bringing the Light of Christ to the peoples of the world (Lumen Gentium)", which gave rise to the "new evangelization".
"Quite obviously, no one thinks that this work of evangelization should be done in a brow-beating, overbearing, or disrespectful manner (proselytization), but for God's sake, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater."
He concluded: "If I really thought that the Church does not exist to bring people to Christ, then I would resign and get an honest job."
Context
The evangelization-versus-proselytism debate is a recurring one: Barron also responded to Aguiar in 2023. Vesco has voiced similar views in earlier interviews (Le Point 2018, Cath.ch 2022). No reply from Cardinal Vesco to Barron's post has been reported so far.
Sources: Bishop Barron on X; CathoBel; Advaticanum.