John Oliver Barres

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John Oliver Barres ( ; born September 20, 1960) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as bishop of Rockville Centre in New York since 2017. He previously served as bishop of Allentown in Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2017.

Early life and education Barres was born on September 20, 1960, the fifth of six children, to Oliver and Marjorie (née Catchpole) Barres, in Larchmont, New York. His parents were Congregationalist ministers who converted to Catholicism in 1955. John Barres was baptized by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. For high school, Barres attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. After his 1989 ordination, the diocese assigned Barres as an associate pastor at Holy Family Parish in Newark, Delaware.

Barres was the first diocesan bishop of Allentown who had not served previously in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Barres established the Saint Thomas More Society for lawyers in the diocese and expanded the diocese's Hispanic ministry and evangelization. The priest, Michael Lawrence, had admitted to sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in 1982, had previously been sent to a monitored rural facility for sex offenders. In 2002, Lawrence retired from pastoral work. At some point, Barres had considered having Lawrence laicized. However, according to a spokesperson for the diocese, Barres finally decided:"... to withdraw the application to remove Lawrence from the clerical state out of concern that if they did, he may leave the supervised, secure facility and re-enter society, where he might be a danger to children. 'Bishop Barres stands by his decision'". Barres is a member of Opus Dei. In addition to his native English, he is fluent in Italian, French, and Spanish.

Publications Barres wrote about his parents' conversion to Catholicism in the book One Shepherd, One Flock