Cardinal Robert McElroy, New Washington Archbishop, Calls On Faithful to be 'Pilgrims of Hope In a Wounded World'
"God sees us as equal in dignity and moral worth,” McElroy tells over 3,500 of the faithful at his installation Mass.
This story has been updated.
By Gary Gately
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy officially took over Tuesday as archbishop of Washington, repeatedly stressing the moral imperative of treating desperate migrants with dignity and compassion.
“God is the Father of us all, and God sees us as equal in dignity and moral worth,” McElroy said in his homily at his installation Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the nation’s capital. “How deeply that contrasts with the world that we have made.”
McElroy, 71, lamented that deep divisions based on race, gender, ideology and nationality pervade U.S. politics and the Catholic Church.
“The poor and the migrant are daily dispossessed, and the dignity of the unborn is denied,” McElroy told more than 3,500 people who packed the basilica, including several hundred priests, about 80 bishops and eight cardinals.
“We are called to be pilgrims of hope in a wounded world, not ignoring the suffering that abounds, but seeing it as a call to strive even more deeply to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our lives and our nation and our world.”
Pope Francis appointed McElroy two weeks before President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration to succeed retiring Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who had served as the Archdiocese of Washington’s first African American cardinal since 2019.
McElroy is known as a strong ally of Francis who has vocally supported the pontiff’s stances on immigration, the environment, outreach to LGBTQ people and “synodality,” which focuses on making the Church more inclusive and increasing lay involvement in decision-making.
The cardinal, who had been bishop of San Diego since 2015, has developed a reputation for being one of the most progressive U.S. bishops. He has called for “radical inclusion” in the church, particularly among Catholics who have divorced and remarried and LGBTQ members, and expressed support for allowing women to serve as deacons.
McElroy, who became the eighth archbishop of Washington, had been a fierce critic of Trump during his first term and in recent weeks decried the administration’s hard-line immigration policies, but did not mention the president during the installation Mass.
Rather, McElroy took on a more conciliatory tone, saying that true faith “constitutes a rejection of division and scorn, of seeing enemies in those with whom we disagree.”
In his homily, McElroy acknowledged the Church’s shameful sexual abuse scandal, saying: “The Church sins and is in need of healing, especially in the failure to protect the young from sexual abuse.”
McElroy’s predecessor, Cardinal Gregory, replaced Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked in 2019 after credible accusations that he sexually abused minors and engaged in sexual misconduct with male seminarians before becoming Washington archbishop.
Some sexual abuse survivors, along with conservative Catholic organizations and commentators, have criticized McElroy’s appointment as Washington cardinal, claiming that as San Diego bishop in 2020, he had failed to act on allegations of sexual abuse by clergy, including McCarrick.
Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine priest, researcher and psychotherapist and advocate for clergy sexual abuse victims, made the allegations in meetings with McElroy.
But McElroy said in a 2018 statement that Sipe, who died in August 2018 at age 85, repeatedly failed to provide any corroborating evidence to back his allegations. And an exclusive National Catholic Reporter investigation, published Monday and based on an extensive review of documents and an interview with McElroy, found that he took “every reasonable step” to pursue Sipe’s “unsubstantiated hearsay allegations.”
McElroy has faced criticism from some U.S. bishops and conservative Catholics for advocating “radical inclusion” in the church, particularly among Catholics who have divorced and remarried and LGBTQ members, and for expressing support for allowing women to serve as deacons.
Springfield, Illinois, Bishop Thomas Paprocki went so far as to label McElroy a “heretic” in 2023
McElroy also has criticized the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for identifying abortion as the “preeminent” priority in a voters’ guide and other statements. The bishops conference, he said, should put greater emphasis on issues such as poverty, immigration, racism and climate change.
His installation comes as many Catholics in the 671,000-member archdiocese — which also includes five Maryland counties — suddenly lost their jobs when they were fired or took a buyout after Trump let billionaire Elon Musk drastically reduce the federal workforce last month. Musk has vowed to continue cutting government staff to eliminate what he calls waste.
Major budget woes have also beset the archdiocese, which has 140 parishes and 90 Catholic schools. The archdiocese has been running deficits as high as $10 million a year since 2018, the National Catholic Reporter and The Pillar have reported over the past three months. The publications said the shortfalls resulted from the sexual abuse scandal, pandemic shutdowns, and less money being donated in collections because of lower Mass attendance.
McElroy’s new role in one of the most prominent posts in the American Catholic Church also coincides with a deep rift between moderate and progressive Catholics and the Church’s conservative faction, which has increasingly aligned itself with Trump and other Republicans.
Cardinal McElroy, along with other Catholic prelates throughout the country, have condemned Trump’s draconian immigration policies. They include plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and the administration’s decisions to allow immigration raids at churches, terminate contracts for a U.S. bishops’ program that resettles legally admitted refugees, and cancel 83% of U.S. Agency for International Development contacts. Catholic relief agencies warn that ending the 5,200 USAID contracts will jeopardize the lives of millions of some of the most impoverished people on the planet.
Many migrants and refugees seek to escape abject poverty, violence, hunger, persecution, exploitation and environmental threats. and the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin.”
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, and other members of the administration have repeatedly spread falsehoods to justify the immigration crackdown.
McElroy has not shied away from criticizing the immigration policies.
“We must speak up and proclaim that this unfolding misery and suffering and, yes, war of fear and terror cannot be tolerated in our midst,” he said at a February 9 prayer service at a San Diego cathedral. “God created all of us in dignity. We are all children of our God. And when misery and fear and terror are unleashed upon the land, we cannot stand silent.”
In his homily Tuesday, McElroy said: “The search for genuine encounter and unity lie at the heart of God’s vision for our world, alongside special care for those who are most vulnerable among us. What hope we could bring to our world as the Church of Washington if we could truly help our society to see others more as God sees them, beloved children, brothers and sisters.”
In stark contrast to McElroy’s stances, the Trump administration has also demonized diversity, equity and inclusion programs, dramatically rolled back LGBTQ rights, and denied as a hoax decades of research demonstrating the potentially catastrophic long-term impacts of climate change.
“Everything that we know on this Earth, every blessing that we receive and every hope that we have is rooted in God’s beneficent desire for the whole of humanity,” McElroy said.
He proclaimed that “all of us are wounded, in pain, sinners,” adding: “Mercy and compassion must be our first instinct.”
The 77-year-old Gregory, now Washington’s archbishop emeritus, praised his successor at the Mass.
“The Church of the Archdiocese of Washington rejoices today at the gift of a remarkable new shepherd,” Gregory said. “We have been graced with the blessings of a man of wisdom, hope, and gentility in Cardinal Robert McElroy.”
McElroy closed the Mass by leading the faithful in reciting a decade of the rosary for the health of Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized in Rome for nearly a month.
“Today,” the cardinal said, “we are especially joyous that the pope seems to be doing better.”
Read the full text of Archbishop Robert W. McElroy’s homily during his installation Mass.
He is a disgrace this so called Shepherd. I’ve read countless articles about this man with virtually nothing positive to say. You seriously can’t think this relic will do anything but damage holy mother church. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/former-seminarian-supports-rico-investigation-of-us-bishops-on-behalf-of-abuse-victims/?utm_source=featured-news&utm_campaign=usa
Fake news! https://www.complicitclergy.com/2025/03/13/complicit-catholic-media-and-clergy-cover-for-mcelroy/