In 1976, after returning to Florida, Baker was appointed director of the Catholic Student Parish at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and assigned as pastor of the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine Parish in St. Augustine.[2]During that time, he founded the St. Francis Ministry in Gainesville to assist individuals discharged from state mental hospitals who were homeless.[5]
On July 12, 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed Baker as bishop of Charleston. He was consecrated on September 28, 1999, by Archbishop John Donoghue at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center in North Charleston, South Carolina.[4] During his tenure as bishop, Baker dedicated new or expanded churches, schools, and parish facilities.
On January 26, 2007, the diocese reached a $5 million minimum settlement with sexual abuse victims and their family members. Baker said that he deeply regretted their anguish.[6]
Bishop of Birmingham
On August 14, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Baker as the bishop of Birmingham. He was installed as bishop on October 2, 2007.[2][4] In 2019, Baker opened a eucharistic conference in the diocese. [5]
Retirement and legacy
On March 25, 2020, Pope Francis accepted Baker's resignation as bishop of Birmingham.[7]
Positions
Abortion
U.S. President Barack Obama at Notre Dame University commencement exercises 2009
Baker was critical in 2009 of the honorary doctorate that Notre Dame University granted to President Barack Obama, since Obama supported abortion rights for women. Baker suggested that Catholics assemble and pray on the Notre Dame commencement day; he discouraged public demonstrations, however.[8]
Sexual abuse among clergy
In a 2020 interview with the Catholic World Report, Baker gave his opinion on the cause of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church:
I agree with Pope Benedict XVI that the origins of the scandals we’re experiencing are related to the changing sexual mores in society that we really began to see in the 1960s. The 1969 music festival at Woodstock, New York symbolized the change in American culture. Moral values in our country, and in the Western hemisphere, had changed. The drug culture came with it.[9]
Bibliography
When Did We See You, Lord? Baker, Robert J. and Groeschel, C.F.R., Benedict J., Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. (Huntington, Indiana), 2005.
The Redemption of Our Bodies: The Theology of the Body and Its Consequences for Ministry in the Diocese of Charleston, pastoral letter by Baker, Robert J.
Cacique: A Novel of Florida’s Heroic Mission History, Baker, Robert J. and Sands, Tony, Saint Catherine of Siena Press, 2006
The Questioner’s Prayer, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. (Huntington, Indiana), 2007[2]
