Catholic Bishop Robert Barron is warning Christians to take seriously the implications of far-left socialists who rack up victories in Democrat primaries across the country, most recently in Colorado.

The popular preacher and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries didn’t mince words in an X post Monday, a week after self-described socialists scored big wins in New York City by taking out Democrat incumbents.

Like many others, I have been alarmed by the success of certain politicians in our country who identify as extreme socialists or communists.

This is not a matter of classical liberals triumphing over standard-issue conservatives; this is the victory of people who stand athwart…

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) June 29, 2026

Barron, the bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, said people of faith, in particular, should be paying close attention.

“Like many others, I have been alarmed by the success of certain politicians in our country who identify as extreme socialists or communists,” Barron wrote. “This is not a matter of classical liberals triumphing over standard-issue conservatives; this is the victory of people who stand athwart the fundamental principles that undergird our country.”

A Socialist Wave in America

Barron’s comments came a day before a democratic socialist notched a win in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old first-time candidate endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, knocked off 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette.

Kiros’ win followed victories by DSA-backed candidates in New York City last week. Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Claire Valdez cruised to victory against Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Both were endorsed by socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

It’s a pattern that worries Barron, and it’s why he’s urging Christians not to shrug it off as just another swing of the political pendulum.

Why Marx Targeted Religion First

“There are many reasons why I detest Communism, but I want to draw attention to just one issue of supreme importance,” Barron said. “Karl Marx said that the first critique is the critique of religion. He meant that, before a complete re-working of the politics and economics of a society can take place, religion has to be taken down.”

Barron noted Marx’s own reasoning. Religion, in the Marxist framework, isn’t a harmless private practice—it’s an obstacle standing between the revolution and the masses it needs to mobilize.

“This is because religion, as he saw it, is the ‘opium of the masses,’ a drug taken to dull our sensitivity to the suffering caused by economic exploitation,” Barron explained. “As long as the suffering populace is lured into complacency by fantasies about God’s providence and the promise of eternal life, they will never rise up and throw off their chains.”

Socialism Can’t Tolerate Rivals

Barron didn’t stop there. He identified a second, and in his view even more important, reason Marxism has always had religion in its crosshairs.

“Communism aspires to be a totalizing system, involving the government’s control over education, entertainment, communication, politics, and especially economics,” Barron wrote. “What stands resolutely athwart this ambition is religion, which declares that all of these societal expressions are finally under the judgment of God. So, if you want Communism to succeed, religion has to be stamped out.”

That’s not abstract theology. It’s a pattern Barron says has repeated itself everywhere Marxist movements have taken power.

“If you doubt me on any of this, I would encourage you to read the recent histories of China, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Venezuela,” he said. “Revisit those histories and tell me I’m wrong about the attack on religion.”

Kiros’ win in Colorado gives Barron’s warning an immediate, real-world backdrop. She’s part of a growing democratic socialist wave, sweeping establishment Democrats out of office. Despite her anti-Israel views, which are described as antisemitic, she won handily in a congressional district that has the highest percentage of Jewish residents in the state.

The Bishop’s Call to Believers

None of this is happening on the fringe anymore. The socialist candidates are riding the momentum Mamdani built when he seized City Hall last November.

It’s happening in U.S. House races, in the nation’s largest city, on the East Coast and Mountain West. The people cheering these results aren’t running from the socialist label—they’re campaigning on it, openly, with the Democratic Socialists of America’s institutional muscle behind them.

There are even Democrats like Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut extending an invitation for socialists to join the party, perhaps without even realizing the radical tenants of the DSA’s platform.

That’s precisely the reason Barron is asking Americans to wake up to the reality of the moment.

“Might I encourage my fellow believers in God not to be complacent in the face of this very troubling development in the American body politic?” he concluded.

It’s a question we should be asking as this socialist movement grows more emboldened.

The Democratic Socialists of America don’t just want to elect radical leftists. Their platform calls for dismantling our republic as we know it.

That’s why I don’t like comparisons to the Tea Party.

Leaders like @BasedMikeLee are fighting to SAVE America—and just as… pic.twitter.com/qwYDWG1xsV

— Rob Bluey (@RobertBluey) July 1, 2026

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]