Cardinal Robert McElroy was installed as the eighth Archbishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington during a ceremony on Tuesday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast D.C.
Roughly two months after his appointment was announced, Cardinal Robert McElroy was formally installed as the leader in the Archdiocese of Washington.
McElroy, 71, introduced himself during a special installation mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which sits in Northeast D.C. on the campus of Catholic University. The mass was attended by priests from throughout the archdiocese, which covers the District, as well as Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland.
“We are a church which believes that love and truth do meet,” McElroy said during his initial homily, which ran for about 10 minutes.
He spoke about the importance of hope and human dignity.
“God sees us as equal in dignity and moral worth,” McElroy said. “How deeply that contrasts with the world that we have made. Divisions of race and gender and ideology and nationality flourish in the world of politics, religion, family, life and education. The poor and the migrant are daily dispossessed, and the dignity of the unborn is denied.”
Then, he said the most effective way to demonstrate faith to the rest of the world is by viewing every conflict “through the eyes of God.”
“The constant refrain in the book of Genesis as God moves through the arc of creation is to affirm the goodness of all, and especially humanity,” McElroy said. “It constitutes a rejection of division and scorn, of seeing enemies in those with whom we disagree.”
McElroy is a native of California and was appointed as an auxiliary bishop in San Francisco by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. In 2015, he became the sixth bishop of the Archdiocese of San Diego. He became a cardinal in 2022.
“We have been graced with the blessings of a man of wisdom, hope and gentility in Cardinal Robert McElroy,” said Cardinal Wilton Gregory, whom McElroy is succeeding in the Archdiocese of Washington. “I personally welcome him as a beloved friend, colleague and brother. Soon, all of the community of faith and our neighbors everywhere will all come to know him as one who stands in our midst as a genuine servant of the gospel.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
