Pope Francis on Monday appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego as archbishop of Washington, D.C., selecting one of his most progressive allies to head the Catholic Church in the U.S. capital ahead of President-elect Trump's new administration.
The Vatican announced the appointment in its daily newspaper on Monday. McElroy, 70, will replace Cardinal Wilton Gregory, 77, two years above the normal retirement age for bishops.
Francis has been keeping an eye on McElroy for years, appointing him bishop of San Diego in 2015 and elevating him to cardinal in 2022.
“While I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Catholic community in our nation's capital and for the confidence the Pope has placed in me, I have truly loved the last 10 years as Bishop of San Diego,” McElroy said in a statement. According to the statement washington post. “I have never felt more welcomed, supported and rewarded in my life.”
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Cardinal Robert Walter McElroy attends a reception for family and friends at Paul VI Hall in the Vatican on August 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
McElroy was an outspoken critic of President Trump during his first administration, particularly on issues such as immigration and the border wall.
Just a month after President Trump took office, McElroy, then a bishop, said in a February 2017 speech before a conference of faith groups in California, “Now, we must all become disruptors.'' '' is noteworthy.
“We must stop those who want to send troops into our cities to deport illegal immigrants and separate mothers and fathers from their families. We must stop those who portray us as our enemies rather than our brothers and sisters. We must stop those who train us to see Muslim men, women, and children as forces of fear rather than as children of God. “We're here,” McElroy said at the time.
McElroy's criticism of Trump continued. In a statement released by the Diocese of San Diego in response to President Trump's 2018 border visit, McElroy said, “We are exchanging the majestic and hopeful symbolism of the Statue of Liberty for ineffective and grotesque symbolism. It's a sad day for our country.” “This wall flaunts and inflames the ethnic and cultural divisions that have long been at the back of our nation's history.” millennial journal.
McElroy is one of a small number of U.S. bishops who have harshly criticized the movement to exclude Catholic politicians who support abortion from communion, and President Francis has insisted that bishops should be pastors, not politicians. , has publicly criticized the movement.
He also questions why the U.S. Bishops' Conference, which tends to be conservative in its leadership, consistently insists that abortion be a “top” priority. He wonders why issues like racism, poverty, immigration and climate change aren't given more attention. He also expressed support for LGBTQ youth and condemned the bullying often directed at them, further aligning with Francis' priorities as Pope.
Newly appointed Cardinal Robert Walter McElroy at a press conference at the Vatican on August 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
McElroy's appointment to Washington comes just weeks after President Trump nominated Brian Birch to be the U.S. ambassador to Rome, when he takes office on January 20.
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Birch, president and co-founder of the advocacy group Catholic Vote, criticized Francis and some of his policies on social media. He also questioned the Catholic Church's leadership regarding FBI investigations into several dioceses.
The FBI's relationship with the Catholic Church also confirms how the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee in December 2023 said the agency “allegedly singled out Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and pro-country.” He has been criticized for his announcement that he received the document. The biological basis of sex and gender distinctions as potential domestic terrorists. ”
Local and federal law enforcement agencies have been involved for decades in compiling allegations of sexual abuse of minors by the Catholic Church. In 2018, the Archdiocese of Washington, under McElroy's leadership, was investigated by the D.C. attorney general's office and found 28 archdiocesan priests “credibly accused of child sexual abuse since the archdiocese's founding in 1948.” The name was published.
Cardinal Robert Walter McElroy speaks during a press conference at the Vatican on August 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
However, the diocese said, “There have been no incidents of abuse of minors by clergy in the archdiocese in nearly 20 years.''
Francisco made the appointment ahead of his final trip to Italy this week and his final meeting with President Biden. The two sides are scheduled to meet on Friday.
Biden made the revelation during a meeting with Francis in 2021 when he said the Pope had instructed him to continue receiving Holy Communion despite his position on abortion. Afterwards, he received Holy Communion in a church in Rome.
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The Archdiocese of Washington includes the District of Columbia and five Maryland counties: Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Calvert, and Charles. The total population of the region is 3,050,847, of whom 671,187 are Catholic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
