The Washington Post had confirmed it last night, and the Vatican Bollettino published it this morning: the bishop of San Diego, McCarrick alum and Cupich-named Cardinal, Robert McElroy will be the new Archbishop of Washington.
It seems quite appropriate that the news comes as the District of Columbia is covered by the largest winter storm in a decade. Snow and ice blow from the west, as chilly winds bring the ultimate McCarrick insider to the capital of the United States.
McElroy is almost 71, and already a Cardinal -- an unusually late appointment considering the canonical and usual retirement age of 75. When he was named Cardinal, in 2022, California Catholics couldn't believe their eyes, considering McElroy's history of obfuscation, or worse, regarding the sordid story of former Cardinal "Uncle Ted" McCarrick, whose great seat of power was... Washington itself:
Finally, there are also those who cannot believe that the Pope is so tone deaf to the fallout of the Uncle Ted McCarrick scandal in the American Church that he would promote a prelate like McElroy who was a longtime associate and friend of McCarrick’s, benefited from McCarrick’s promotion of his ecclesiastical career, and who surely must have known something about Uncle Ted’s darker proclivities and yet said nothing. ... In an era where the Church’s credibility in the public arena has been fatally compromised by the rolling nightmare of the sex abuse scandals, Pope Francis should have perhaps taken this into deeper consideration before promoting McElroy, who was the face of obstruction (along with Cardinals Cupich and Tobin), to the efforts of the USCCB to pressure the Vatican for more transparency on the status of the McCarrick investigation.
Indeed, McElroy was one of the bishops who voted against a USCCB petition pressing the Vatican for more transparency and speed in the McCarrick investigation. I repeat: he voted against transparency. Which marks him off as either someone who is: A) personally compromised himself in the McCarrick situation and who is seeking to cover things up; B) uncaring toward the victims of abuse; C) a Pope Francis sycophant who was simply trying to shield the Pope from criticism; or D) all, or some combination, of the above.
All that said, I think there is a need to identify the root issue at stake in all of these concerns and criticisms. Beyond particular and proximate issues such as LBTQIAA+++ promotion, Eucharistic discipline, sex abuse scandals, and obstructionism, it is important to ask a simple question: why does Pope Francis like Bishop McElroy enough to make him a Cardinal? After all, the man has some serious baggage…
It is all very bizarre, but the particular reason for this nomination is almost certainly related to last November's election. McElroy's obsession with "LGBT etc" issues and "immigration" matters all but assured a Francis response to Americans, in particular American Catholics, who overwhelmingly voted to give Donald J. Trump a second term.
McElroy will probably try to be confrontational regarding the Administration -- but with what credibility? As a McCarrick defender? The "vibe shift" in American life, and in American Catholicism, is real, and a tainted bishop will only increase the hostility of serious Catholics towards a dying breed of liberal clergy.
