Pope Francis Names San Francisco Ally Cardinal McElroy Archbishop of Washington

WASHINGTON– Pope Francis on Monday named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego archbishop of Washington, tapping one of his most progressive allies to lead the Catholic Church in the U.S. capital at the start of Donald Trump’s second administration.

McElroy, 70, replaces Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who at 77 is two years past the normal retirement age for bishops and is resigning after overcoming the fallout from a new eruption of the sex abuse crisis within the clergy.

The Vatican announced the appointment Monday, the Catholic holiday of the Epiphany, in a bulletin that signaled another important appointment. Francis named Italian Sister Simona Brambilla the first woman to head a Vatican dicastery, in this case the one responsible for religious orders.

MORE: Pope Francis names first woman to head major Vatican office

Francis, who was elected pope with a mandate for reform, has long eyed McElroy, naming him bishop of San Diego in 2015 and then elevating him to cardinal in 2022.

McElroy is among a minority of American bishops to harshly criticize the campaign to exclude from communion Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, a campaign that Francis has publicly criticized by insisting that bishops must be pastors and not politicians.

He also questioned why the American bishops’ conference, whose leadership is rather conservative, consistently insists on identifying abortion as its “preeminent” priority. He questioned why greater importance was not given to issues such as racism, poverty, immigration and climate change.

He also expressed support for LGBTQ+ youth and denounced the bullying they often face, further aligning with Francis’ priorities as pope.

“McElroy is knowledgeable, kind, empathetic and ready to fight alongside the most vulnerable,” said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of the department of religion and philosophy at Manhattan University. She said her appointment was particularly timely given the polarization in the United States.

“McElroy has the experience of leading a diocese marked by diversity and challenges, and I cannot imagine a greater challenge than being so close to the seat of American government in 2025,” she said in an email.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit known for his work with the LGBTQ+ community, also welcomed the appointment, calling McElroy “one of the most brilliant and capable clerics” in the American Church.

McElroy, a Harvard University graduate with a master’s degree in history from Stanford University, is a native of San Francisco and ministered there until Francis moved him to San Diego.

“With doctorates in theology and political science, and experience as bishop of San Diego, Cardinal McElroy is both intelligent and pastoral,” Martin said in a social media post.

McElroy’s appointment to Washington comes just weeks after Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, nominated Brian Burch to be U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Burch, president and co-founder of the advocacy group CatholicVote, has criticized Francis and some of his policies on social media.

Francis made the appointment ahead of his final meeting with President Joe Biden, who is making a final foreign trip to Italy this week. Biden emerged from a meeting with Francis in 2021 saying the pope told him to continue receiving communion despite his stance on abortion.

He then received the sacrament in a church in Rome.

The Archdiocese of Washington includes the District of Columbia and five Maryland counties: Montgomery, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles. It has a total population of 3,050,847 inhabitants, including 671,187 Catholics.

Its outgoing archbishop, Gregory, took over in 2019, during a period of turmoil for one of the country’s most important archdioceses. Its two previous leaders, former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, were caught in a new wave of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Wuerl resigned after losing the trust of his flock and McCarrick was defrocked.

Francis not only asked Gregory to lead, but then made him a prince of the Church in 2020, making him the first black American cardinal in the process.