Pope Francis names vocal supporter of migrants as next cardinal in Washington
Pope Francis on Monday named Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, to be the next Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, moving one of his most vocal allies on immigration to one of the most prominent posts in the American church.
The move, announced in the Vatican’s daily bulletin, comes at a critical moment two weeks before President-elect Donald J. Trump is inaugurated and signals that Pope Francis is establishing his own priorities in the face of the incoming administration. Many powerful American Catholics, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, have aligned themselves with Mr. Trump’s efforts against immigration and abortion.
Cardinal McElroy, 70, is a longtime supporter of the pope’s pastoral agenda, and is known for regularly speaking out on the inclusion of migrants, women and L.G.B.T.Q. people in the Catholic church and in the United States.
He will succeed Cardinal Wilton Gregory, 77, the first African-American to be made a cardinal, a member of the church’s highest governing body.
At a news conference at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington on Monday morning, Cardinal McElroy directly addressed Mr. Trump’s immigration proposals, stating that plans for a “wider, indiscriminate, massive deportation across the country” would be “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”
While the Catholic church teaches that a country has the right to control its borders, it also centers the “dignity of every human person,” he said.
Cardinal McElroy also spoke briefly in Spanish, directly addressing the archdiocese’s Hispanic community, reminding them that the church was the mother of all — “todos, todos, todos,” he repeated — especially in difficult times.
His presence in Washington will stand in contrast to prominent Catholics in Mr. Trump’s administration. Mr. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, advanced a hard-line anti-immigrant agenda on the campaign trail last year. Alongside Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance called for mass deportations, promised to end legal immigration programs and spread baseless rumors that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating pets. He represents the traditionalist wing of the church, which has gained strength in Republican circles as it pushes against the rise of secularism.
Mr. Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch, is the longtime president of Catholic Vote, a group that helped to mobilize conservative Catholics to support Mr. Trump for his opposition to immigration, abortion, and transgender rights.
As bishop of the San Diego diocese, along the border with Mexico, Cardinal McElroy has a history of standing with immigrants, who represent a significant constituency for the Catholic church both globally and in the U.S. [Continue reading…]