(RNS) — Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, currently bishop of San Diego, to lead the Archdiocese of Washington to replace Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the U.S.’s first Black Catholic cardinal, whose resignation has been accepted by the pope two years past the traditional retirement age of 75.
The appointment came just as Washington prepares for a new president who has made immigration a key theme of his campaign, just as Francis has focused on migrant rights during his papacy. Having led the border diocese of San Diego since 2015, McElroy, 70, has experience with the immigration, both as a political issue and a reality in his diocesan churches.
At a press conference in Washington following the announcement, McElroy said of Trump’s immigration policy, “having a wider, indiscriminate, massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”
In December McElroy joined other bishops in the California Catholic Conference in releasing a statement called the U.S. immigration system “broken.”
McElroy has been a strong ally of the pope on several other of Francis’ key issues, particularly the environment and the applications of the theological concept of synodality, which emphasizes dialogue over hierarchical processes in the church.
As he addressed his new archdiocese for the first time, McElroy mentioned synodality immediately after offering his first messages of thanks. “We are called to proclaim t …