Fr. Michael "Mike" Donald Barton, mcci

Fr. Michael "Mike" Barton, mccj

April 6, 1948 - August 28, 2026

Fr. Michael "Mike" Barton, mccj, a Comboni Missionary who devoted nearly five decades of priestly ministry to the people of Sudan and South Sudan and later served the sick, grieving, and vulnerable in Cincinnati, died peacefully in his sleep on August 28, 2026, while in hospice care in Blue Ash, Ohio. He was 78.

Fr. Mike was born April 6, 1948, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Dennis Joseph Barton and Mary Florence Barton. He grew up in St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Parish in Indianapolis, where he was baptized and confirmed and where, years later, he would be ordained to the priesthood.

At age 13, in September 1961, he entered the Comboni Seminary in Cincinnati, beginning a missionary career that would span 65 years. His formation included studies in Cincinnati and at Sacred Heart College in Monroe, Michigan, followed by formation in Spain, including Moncada and Granada. He made his first religious profession on August 15, 1968, and his perpetual profession on June 21, 1974.

On December 14, 1975, Fr. Mike returned to his home parish of Little Flower in Indianapolis to be ordained a priest. Following ordination, he studied Arabic in Cairo in preparation for the missionary work that would define much of his life.

Fr. Mike arrived in southern Sudan in 1978. Over the decades that followed, he served in some of the most remote and difficult circumstances in the region, combining pastoral ministry with education, administration, and the practical work required to sustain mission communities.

His early assignments included Kworijik and Luri. After several years in the United States working in mission and vocation promotion, he returned to Sudan in 1993 and served at Mapourdit.

In August 1996, during Sudan's long civil war, the mission at Mapourdit was surrounded and looted, and Fr. Mike was detained for nearly two weeks. The experience did not end his commitment to the people he served. He remained a missionary in Sudan and later South Sudan for decades to come.

In 2002, Fr. Mike began approximately 12 years of ministry at St. Theresa Parish in Nyamlell, serving a vast territory and supporting the parish's schools and communities.

In 2014, he volunteered to help establish a new Comboni mission in the Ayod area of the newly independent South Sudan. Civil war again overtook the region. While studying the Nuer language in Leer, he was forced to flee the fighting. His ministry during this period took him through communities including Old Fangak, Ayod, Jiuny, and Mogok, often among people displaced by war.

At Mogok, Fr. Mike served as acting pastor and community superior as well as school director. He helped establish a primary school there, continuing a pattern that characterized his missionary life: responding to the spiritual needs of a community while also attending to the practical needs of its people.

Fr. Mike returned to the United States on September 10, 2022, and joined the Comboni community in Cincinnati. He continued to serve others, ministering to nursing-home residents and hospice patients. He was a longtime member of the Saint Gregory the Great Mental Wellness Ministry, facilitated its Wednesday evening wellness gatherings at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, and contributed to its spiritual support groups and liturgy and education teams.

Throughout his life as a missionary, Fr. Mike was known for a gentle presence, deep faith, and particular concern for people who were suffering, displaced, ill, or otherwise vulnerable. Whether serving communities affected by war in Sudan and South Sudan or accompanying people facing illness and grief in Cincinnati, his ministry was rooted in being present to those who needed him.

Fr. Mike is survived by his sisters, Sheila Barton Bosron, DDS (William Bosron, PhD), and Mary Catherine Barton, JD, as well as nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Dennis J. Barton.

Visitation will take place Tuesday, September 8, at 10 a.m. at St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Catholic Church, 4720 E. 13th St., Indianapolis, Indiana. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11 a.m., with burial at Holy Cross Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, Fr. Mike requested that memorial contributions be made to the Comboni Missionaries for their work in South Sudan.

Services in Cincinnati will be held at a later date. Please check back for date & time.