Catholic Bishop Robert Barron Slams Mamdani’s Socialist Inauguration Line Celebrating the “Warmth of Collectivism”

Prominent Catholic leader Bishop Robert Barron, Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and founder of “Word on Fire,” slammed radical socialist Zohran Mamdani following his disturbing inauguration speech.

Mamdani was sworn in as the 112th mayor of New York City just after midnight on New Year’s Day in an abandoned subway station beneath City Hall.

Mamdani, born in Uganda and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, placed his hand on the Quran during the oath, administered by none other than radical New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Following the underground ceremony, a public inauguration with another socialist Senator Bernie Sanders is scheduled to take place later today on the steps of City Hall.

The new mayor made sure to pepper his speech with socialist rhetoric.  He actually said these words out loud in his speech: “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”

Barron shared on X that Mamdani’s declaration “took my breath away.”

“There was a line from Zohran Mamdani’s inaugural address yesterday that took my breath away,” Barron wrote.

“He said he intended to replace ‘the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.'”

“Collectivism in its various forms is responsible for the deaths of at least one hundred million people in the last century.”

“Socialist and Communist forms of government around the world today—Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, etc.—are disastrous. Catholic social teaching has consistently condemned socialism and has embraced the market economy, which people like Mayor Mamdani caricature as ‘rugged individualism.'”

“In fact, it is the economic system that is based upon the rights, freedom, and dignity of the human person. For God’s sake, spare me the ‘warmth of collectivism.'”

There was a line from Zohran Mamdani’s inaugural address yesterday that took my breath away. He said he intended to replace “the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” Collectivism in its various forms is responsible for the deaths of at least one…

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) January 2, 2026

Others weighed in on the frightening rhetoric.

Picture of one rugged individualist standing against the warmth of collectivism on June 5, 1989. pic.twitter.com/hNWLQHa3u7

— Alice Smith (@TheAliceSmith) January 2, 2026

Memorial to the victims of communism in Prague where the “warmth of collectivism” killed thousands of people. pic.twitter.com/tcBhcTi7j2

— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) January 2, 2026

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