Pope Francis Trolls Trump With D.C. Archbishop Appointment
WOKE DEI ARCHBISHOP
Josh Fiallo
Mon, January 6, 2025
TONY GENTILE / REUTERS
Pope Francis, 88, still has some tricks up his sleeve.
The pontiff has appointed a sharp critic of Donald Trump to be the next archbishop of the nation’s capital—just in time for the president-elect’s return to office.
That cardinal, Robert McElroy, has been a vocal defender of migrants and was publicly critical of Trump during his first term. He famously urged parishioners in 2017 to be disruptors of Trump’s anti-migrant agenda.
“We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families,” he said. “We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need.”
Mon, January 6, 2025
TONY GENTILE / REUTERS
Pope Francis, 88, still has some tricks up his sleeve.
The pontiff has appointed a sharp critic of Donald Trump to be the next archbishop of the nation’s capital—just in time for the president-elect’s return to office.
That cardinal, Robert McElroy, has been a vocal defender of migrants and was publicly critical of Trump during his first term. He famously urged parishioners in 2017 to be disruptors of Trump’s anti-migrant agenda.
“We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families,” he said. “We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need.”
Robert McElroy poses for photographers in 2022. / REMO CASILLI / REUTERS
McElroy, 70, will soon have the opportunity to deliver similar directives just steps from the Oval Office. McElroy, a native of San Francisco, spent the last decade in San Diego.
Francis’ decision to choose a Trump critic is not coincidental, a church historian from Villanova University told CNN. The pope has opposed Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric over the years, with the most recent instance coming in September when he remarked that he could not endorse Trump or Kamala Harris in good conscience.
“Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ Francis said at a news conference. “You must choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone, in conscience, [has to] think and do this.”
Donald Trump and Pope Francis met at the Vatican in 2017. / POOL / REUTERS
Francis, an Argentine, made harsher comments against Trump in 2016. That’s when he told reporters the then-presidential candidate was not a real Christian.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” he said.
Trump has hit back at Pope Francis. He announced on Dec. 20 that his pick to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican was Brian Burch, an outspoken critic of the pope.
Francis had a much cozier relationship with Joe Biden, a devout Catholic who had a relationship with the pope even before he was elected president in 2020. The pope is set to have a farewell meeting with Biden on Friday before he bows out of the White House later this month
Pope appoints Trump critic to be archbishop of Washington, DC, and appoints first female leader of a Vatican department
Christopher Lamb, CNN
Tue, January 7, 2025
Cardinal McElroy is a strong supporter of Francis’ priorities on refugees, the environment and welcoming LGBTQ Catholics.
Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, a vocal defender of migrants and critic of Donald Trump’s first administration, as the next archbishop of Washington, DC.
Cardinal McElroy, 70, is a strong supporter of Francis’ priorities on refugees, the environment and welcoming LGBTQ Catholics. He will succeed Cardinal Wilton Gregory, 77, who was the first African-American Archbishop of Washington, DC.
Francis also appointed on Monday the first female leader of a Vatican department. Sister Simona Brambilla will become prefect of the Holy See’s religious life office, which has responsibility for nuns, monks and friars.
Early in Trump’s first term, then-Bishop McElroy gave a speech in Modesto, California, specifically referencing Trump and urging Catholics to become “disruptors” of the anti-immigrant agenda.
“We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families. We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need,” he said.
And after Trump’s first election victory in 2016, McElroy lamented “a profound sickness in the soul in American political life” and that it would be “unthinkable” for Catholics to “stand by while more than ten percent of our flock is ripped from our midst and deported.”
The appointment of McElroy sends a signal about how Pope Francis and the Vatican plan to navigate a second Trump administration and follows Trump’s decision to nominate a critic of Francis as his Vatican ambassador. The pope also is due to have a farewell meeting with President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic who had a warm rapport with Francis, on Friday.
Massimo Faggioli, a church historian who teaches at Villanova University in Pennsylvania and follows the Francis papacy closely, told CNN the appointment is a “bold move” by the pope and that announcing it on the anniversary of the January 6 US Capitol attack and two weeks before Trump’s inauguration is the “statement in the [announcement] statement.”
McElroy, who holds a doctorate in political science from Stanford University along with a doctorate in theology from a Roman university, can be relied on by the pope to articulate Catholic teaching on matters such as migration and protection of the most vulnerable in society.
More female leaders
Brambilla, who is from Monza, northern Italy, qualified as a nurse before entering her religious community, has a doctorate in psychology and has worked as a missionary in Mozambique. She has until now been serving as the number two at the Vatican office that she will now lead. The pope also appointed a cardinal, Ángel Fernández Artime, as “pro-prefect” of the department, who will work with Brambilla.
During his pontificate, Francis has sought to appoint more female leaders inside the church’s central administration, although there have been calls for him to go further with the role of women in the church becoming an urgent topic of discussion.
According to the Vatican, from 2013 to 2023 the percentage of women working for the Holy See and Vatican City State rose from 19.2% to 23.4%.
Pope Francis names Trump critic McElroy as Washington's new archbishop
Joshua McElwee
Mon, January 6, 2025
Pope Francis names Trump critic McElroy as Washington's new archbishop
Pope Francis installs 20 new cardinals
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Monday named a Catholic cardinal who has criticized Donald Trump's political agenda as the new leader for the Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., days before Trump is set to be inaugurated as U.S. president.
Cardinal Robert McElroy, 70, has been the bishop of San Diego since 2015. He will replace Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who has led the archdiocese of Washington since 2019 and is retiring.
McElroy sharply criticized Trump's plan during his first administration to launch a mass deportation campaign targeting millions of immigrants living in the United States.
He called on Americans to "disrupt" those plans in a 2017 speech and later told a Catholic magazine that Catholics "simply can't stand by and watch [immigrants] get deported".
"It's a bold move," Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic who has followed the Francis papacy closely, said of McElroy's appointment.
Faggioli, a professor at Villanova University in Philadelphia, noted the announcement came on the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by rioters who hoped to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
He called it "a statement to the halls of power in D.C. and boardrooms in America".
McElroy is also an outspoken ally of Francis among the U.S. Catholic bishops, who are largely divided over the pope's pastoral agenda.
He has taken progressive positions on issues such as being more welcoming toward LGBTQ Catholics and has called for the ordination of women as deacons -- ordained ministers who, unlike priests, cannot celebrate the Mass.
McElroy, who was made a cardinal by Francis in 2022, is originally from San Francisco.
The cardinal has a doctorate in theology from Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, as is usual for Catholic prelates. He also earned a doctorate in politics from Stanford University, where his dissertation focused on American foreign policy.
Gregory, aged 77, was the first African American leader of the Catholic Church in Washington, and the first Black U.S. cardinal.
He was known for a low-key approach and rebuffed calls from some conservative Catholics to deny communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, such as Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
McElroy has also rebuffed such calls.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Ros Russell)
Trump critic named new Washington archbishop
Alex Gangitano
Mon, January 6, 2025
THE HILL
Trump critic named new Washington archbishop
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, a critic of President-elect Trump, was named the new archbishop of Washington on Monday.
Pope Francis named McElroy, who is the bishop of San Diego, to replace Cardinal Wilton Gregory in Washington, D.C., Catholic Standard reported. McElroy, a San Francisco native, is known as a progressive in the Catholic Church and his diocese of San Diego includes California’s border with Mexico.
The pope’s move to put McElroy, a vocal supporter of migrants, at the top post in Washington comes just weeks before Trump is sworn in for a second term Jan. 20. Meanwhile, President Biden is set to travel to Rome later this week to meet with the pope.
McElroy opposed Trump’s immigration agenda during his first four years in the White House, saying at the time that Catholics “simply can’t stand by and watch” while immigrants get deported, according to Reuters. McElroy joined other California bishops last month to issue a statement supporting migrants after Trump was elected on a platform focused on cracking down on immigration.
He has also been welcoming towards LGBTQ Catholics and supportive of women as deacons in the church.
Gregory, who has a close relationship with Biden while serving as archbishop, was required by Church law to submit his resignation after he turned 75 in 2022.
Gregory supported Biden, the second Catholic president in U.S. history, while conservative Catholic bishops mulled whether they should prevent him from receiving communion over his pro-reproductive rights stance.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Trump critic named new Washington archbishop
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, a critic of President-elect Trump, was named the new archbishop of Washington on Monday.
Pope Francis named McElroy, who is the bishop of San Diego, to replace Cardinal Wilton Gregory in Washington, D.C., Catholic Standard reported. McElroy, a San Francisco native, is known as a progressive in the Catholic Church and his diocese of San Diego includes California’s border with Mexico.
The pope’s move to put McElroy, a vocal supporter of migrants, at the top post in Washington comes just weeks before Trump is sworn in for a second term Jan. 20. Meanwhile, President Biden is set to travel to Rome later this week to meet with the pope.
McElroy opposed Trump’s immigration agenda during his first four years in the White House, saying at the time that Catholics “simply can’t stand by and watch” while immigrants get deported, according to Reuters. McElroy joined other California bishops last month to issue a statement supporting migrants after Trump was elected on a platform focused on cracking down on immigration.
He has also been welcoming towards LGBTQ Catholics and supportive of women as deacons in the church.
Gregory, who has a close relationship with Biden while serving as archbishop, was required by Church law to submit his resignation after he turned 75 in 2022.
Gregory supported Biden, the second Catholic president in U.S. history, while conservative Catholic bishops mulled whether they should prevent him from receiving communion over his pro-reproductive rights stance.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
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