I’m a little bit late weighing in on Pope Francis’s appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as Archbishop of Washington. This news is personal to me, as I have spent most of my life in this archdiocese. Speaking personally, I am much more concerned with the local implications of this move than I am with the national and worldwide political implications of the decision.
Despite what many traditionalists and right-wing Catholics might attempt to argue, our last three archbishops — Cardinals Wilton Gregory and Donald Wuerl, as well as then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick — were fairly down-the-middle churchmen. Their two immediate predecessors, Cardinals James Hickey and William Baum, were seen as both conservative and orthodox. The first and longest-serving Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle, was a staunch advocate for racial integration and social justice, as well as for Humanae Vitae. All of them certainly accepted the Second Vatican Council and were not traditionalists by any measure, but none of them were openly progressive, especially when compared to the rest of the episcopate.
By contrast, Cardinal McElroy, as bishop of San Diego, has established a reputation for being one of the most progressive bishops in the US. He has openly championed the ordination of women to the diaconate, and his essay on the “radical inclusion” of LGBT persons in the Church (and his response to critics) in America Magazine was widely pilloried by Catholics who studied moral theology and human sexuality in light of Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body and Veritatis Splendor. One of his fellow US bishops even suggested McElroy is a heretic. Although I did criticize some aspects of Cardinal McElroy’s articles, I thought his critics misinterpreted some of the terminology he used. And I think the notion that he’s a heretic is patently absurd.
Cardinal McElroy’s appointment to Washington almost immediately prompted harsh criticisms, hand-wringing, and rebukes from typical corners of the Church commentariat. Among the culture-warrior class of Catholic media and academia (much of which is headquartered in this archdiocese), McElroy’s name is probably the third most despised — after Fr. James Martin and Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich. It remains to be seen whether Washington’s clergy, which tends to be quite conservative, will embrace him or will passively resist his leadership.
These concerns aside, I am hopeful for Cardinal McElroy’s tenure as our archbishop, and I pray that he succeeds. Fundamentally, I believe he is a good man who is committed to his faith and to serving the Church. I have engaged him in conversation a few times and he has always been kind and considerate to me. One thing that struck me is that despite the harsh tone sometimes used against him by other bishops, he was remarkably positive about his brother bishops in private conversation, even when his audience would have been sympathetic to a more stark appraisal. I wrote in 2022 that I remembered him saying that 95% of the US bishops agree on 95% of the issues, but they differed on priorities.
In the same article, I also mentioned how McElroy’s priorities seem to be more in alignment (and intentionally so) with Pope Francis’s. If other bishops feel they were “passed over” for the red cardinal’s hat, then they might want to contemplate what they aren’t doing that McElroy is. Ignoring or resisting the pope’s major magisterial documents and his call to support migrants is not going to reflect positively on a bishop’s record. Is Pope Francis sending a message? You bet he is. But a bishop’s role is more than symbolic.
For those of us in the Washington Church, our archbishop plays a more immediate role. He will be the one to assign pastors and decide where to send seminarians. Vocations to the priesthood have been relatively strong here. Can we sustain that? There have been reports that the archdiocese has been running at a deficit for years. Are we facing collapse? Unlike other dioceses across the US, Washington has not yet had to impose drastic measures like the shutdowns of parishes suffered in places like Baltimore, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. Will he manage to keep us afloat?
I pray for the successful tenure of Cardinal McElroy as the Archbishop of Washington. His gifts and commitment to serving the Church and following Pope Francis’s lead are undeniable. May he be a faithful shepherd who serves us well, with God’s help.
Image: Archdiocese of Washington.
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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