The new Archbishop of Washington could read Trump the riot act

While many of his fellow clergymen remained silent, the Bishop of San Diego raised his voice loudly. In 2017, when US President Donald Trump wanted to deport masses of undocumented immigrants, Robert McElroy said: "We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies instead of our brothers and sisters in great need." In his diocese on the border with Mexico at the time, the issue affected and still affects many people from the south in particular. Now the cleric, who was elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022, is the new Archbishop of Washington in the immediate vicinity of the White House, where Trump's second term of office begins in a few days' time.

As a doctor of history and political scientist with degrees from Stanford and Harvard, McElroy has exceptional academic qualifications for a churchman. According to columnist Michael Sean Winters from the magazine "National Catholic Reporter", this makes the cardinal one of the few in the US church to have penetrated the complex relationship between politics and theology. He is "the only bishop in America who has thought deeply about the intersection of public life and Catholic theology".

Voice for social commitment

McElroy is regarded as one of Francis' most prominent allies in the conservative US episcopate. With his appointment, the Pope has found a courageous mouthpiece. McElroy not only stands for a pastoral vision, but also for social commitment - without mincing his words.

The new archbishop of the capital city diocese takes over his office from 77-year-old Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who made history in 2019 as the first African-American to head the archdiocese. Gregory was given the difficult task of healing the wounds left by the abuse scandal surrounding his predecessor Theodore McCarrick.

McElroy as a counterweight

Many analysts also recognise McElroy's appointment as the Pope's response to the appointment of his long-time critic Brian Burch as US ambassador to the Vatican - as well as a corrective to Vice President JD Vance, who has converted to Catholicism and is also an arch-conservative. While the latter has no problem with Trump's anti-immigration policy, McElroy is in favour of a course geared towards the needs of the people.

"McElroy is the best choice for the job in the capital," says the Jesuit Tom Reese in an interview with the "Religion News Service". The cardinal is brilliant, eloquent and a clear supporter of Francis. "He shares his conviction that the Church must stand on the side of the poor and marginalised."

McElroy's position on the abortion debate is particularly clear. While many of his fellow ministers elevate the issue to an all-important moral issue, he argues in a more nuanced way. "Abortion is only one of several critical points of Catholic moral teaching," he wrote in a highly regarded essay for "America Magazine" in 2023. When conservative bishops wanted to exclude incumbent Joe Biden from receiving communion because of his position on abortion, McElroy was firmly opposed.

Sexuality is not everything

The future Archbishop of Washington is also in favour of the "radical inclusion" of women and sexual minorities (LGBTQ) in church life. "The tradition of viewing all sexual acts outside of marriage as a grave sin has led to a disproportionate focus on sexual aspects of Christian moral life," he once criticised.

McElroy has not only made friends with his stance. One US minister went so far as to publicly accuse the cardinal of heresy. However, the future archbishop will probably not allow himself to be intimidated either within the church or politically. He warns that the "poison of tribalism" is threatening to spread from politics to the Church.

He sees his mission for the new task in something else. In view of the largest mass deportations in US history announced by Trump, he wants to represent the Church's position clearly and fearlessly. "The archbishop of the capital has the opportunity to introduce Catholic principles into the national debate in a way that few others can," analyses Vatican advisor Kim Daniels in the Washington Post. In McElroy, Pope Francis has found an eloquent advocate.