SAN DIEGO — Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego was appointed the new Archbishop of Washington D.C. Monday, replacing Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who is retiring.
Cardinal McElroy will take over his new role in March, just two months after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.
McElroy is one of Pope Francis’ most progressively like-minded allies. The pope made him Bishop of San Diego in 2015 and elevated him to Cardinal in 2022.
According to the Associated Press, during a news conference Monday morning, McElroy said he prayed the incoming administration would work to make America a better place. But he also identified Trump’s threats of mass deportations of immigrants as a point of potential conflict, saying such policies were “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”
McElroy has also expressed support for LGBTQ+ youth and denounced the bullying often directed at them.
Once McElroy takes over his new role, a diocesan administrator will be appointed over the San Diego Catholic Diocese until a new bishop is appointed.
In a release from the San Diego Diocese, McElroy said:
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Catholic community in our nation’s capital and for the confidence His Holiness has placed in me, but I have truly loved the last ten years I’ve spent as bishop of San Diego. I have never in my life felt more welcomed, more supported or more rewarded than I felt sharing my ministry with the priests, the women religious, and the faithful parishioners of our diocese. I cannot thank you enough. As I transition to my next assignment, know that I feel deeply blessed to have been part of this community and that the San Diego diocese will always have a special place in my heart.”