The Heritage Foundation’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies is honored to announce that the Most Reverend Bishop Robert Barron of the diocese of Winona-Rochester will deliver the 2023 Russell Kirk Lecture for his speech titled, “The Breakdown of the Tocquevillean Equilibrium.”

The namesake of the lecture—famed scholar Russell Kirk—was a pillar of the conservative movement, bringing like-minded individuals under the very name conservative. Through his well-known books, The Conservative Mind and The Roots of American Order, Kirk provided a philosophical foundation for the conservative movement.

Helping to establish the influential publications National Review and Modern Age, Kirk strove to consolidate a rich, academic bedrock for conservatives, developing the six canons of conservatism which defined the tenets of the movement.

Following the path of the America’s greatest conservative intellectual, the Russell Kirk Lecture series recognizes those individuals who exemplify Kirk’s commitment to conservative scholarship.

Previous Russell Kirk Lectures have been delivered by Robert George, Roger Scruton, Shelby Steele, George Nash, Robert Reilly, David Goldman, Roger Kimball, and Gary Saul Morson.

Bishop Robert Barron: This year’s Russell Kirk Lecture speaker, Bishop Robert Barron, is known for his highly influential Word on Fire ministerial organization, which seeks to “proclaim Christ in the Culture” by “utilizing the tremendous resources…of art, architecture, poetry, philosophy, theology, and the lives of the saints in order to explain and interpret the event of Jesus Christ.” Bishop Barron is one of the most followed Catholics on social media and is frequently featured on FOX, NBC, and EWTN. He is an #1 Amazon bestselling author and has received acclaim for two documentary series, Catholicism and Pivotal Players. Despite his international prominence, he remains committed to the faithful of his Diocese of Winona-Rochester, MN.

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