Cardinal Robert McElroy was installed March 11 as the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, during a nearly two-hour liturgy in which he encouraged the faithful of his new archdiocese to be “pilgrims of hope in a wounded world.”
“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, sisters and brothers,” Cardinal McElroy said during the Solemn Mass of Installation at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Referencing the Jubilee Year and its theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” Cardinal McElroy called on his new flock to “unswervingly understand our vocation as disciples of hope.”
“It is all too easy for every one of us to let the limits of earthly worries and perspectives erect prisons in our souls that shut us off from the expansive presence of the Resurrection in its fullness,” he said. “We must refuse to be overpowered by these prisons, and instead journey together as a local Church, companions in faith and in fragility to embrace the same risen Lord that Mary of Magdala encountered in the garden so many centuries ago.”
Cardinal McElroy, the former bishop of San Diego, was named by Pope Francis on Jan. 6 to replace the retiring Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, who served as the archbishop of Washington from 2019 until this year, and is now archbishop emeritus.
Again stressing the need for the faithful to bring hope to the world, Cardinal McElroy encouraged those at the Mass to “strive even more deeply to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into our lives and our nation and our world.”
In his homily, Cardinal McElroy said it was “vital for our local Church” to embrace “the hope that comes from seeing the world as God sees it.”
“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,” Cardinal McElroy said. “God is the Father of us all. And God sees us as equal in dignity and moral worth.”
He reminded the faithful that “it is God who bestows mercy on us and calls us in turn to become bestowers of mercy upon others,” and as such, “mercy and compassion must be our first impulse when confronted with sin and human failure,” he said.
“Hope arises when we confront ourselves as we truly are, understand that the bountiful mercy of God is without limit, and undertake the call to live out the teachings of the Church and be sacraments of mercy to others. We are a Church which believes that love and truth do meet. That is precisely our glory as the children of God,” he said.
Cardinal McElroy lamented that “divisions of race and gender and ideology and nationality flourish in the world of politics, religion, family life and education. The poor and the migrant are daily dispossessed, and the dignity of the unborn is denied.”
“The only effective witness that our Church can give to the world is to view every conflict which surrounds us through the eyes of God,” he said.
About 3,500 people packed the National Shrine for the installation Mass that was offered in both Spanish and English. Among those in attendance were officials from the federal government, the District of Columbia, Maryland and California.
More than 1,300 additional people followed the Mass virtually via the National Shrine’s livestream. The Mass was also broadcast over the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).
In his homily, Cardinal McElroy also thanked his family “for their nurturing of my faith and my life”; his fellow priests and religious who “have been so critical to my formation as a priest and a bishop”; and to his friends who “have enriched my life and taught me much.”
For more than 20 minutes before the Mass, prelates processed to the shrine’s altar to participate in the installation. More than 280 priests — including those from the Archdiocese of Washington, the Diocese of San Diego and others — led the procession that included about 70 bishops and archbishops and eight cardinals.
The participating cardinals — in addition to Cardinal McElroy and Cardinal Gregory — were Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States; Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, archbishop emeritus of Washington; Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J.; Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of N.Y.; and Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston.
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore also participated.
In remarks at the beginning of the Mass, Cardinal Gregory noted that “with jubilant hearts, we say welcome” to Cardinal McElroy and that “the Church of the Archdiocese of Washington rejoices today at the gift of a remarkable new shepherd.”
“We have been graced with the blessings of a man of wisdom, hope and gentility in Cardinal Robert McElroy,” Cardinal Gregory said. “Soon all of the community of faith and our neighbors everywhere will all come to know him as one who stands in our midst as a genuine servant of the Gospel.”
Cardinal Gregory also told Cardinal McElroy that the faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington are “hopeful souls all in search of Christ Jesus and who will follow your lead in pursuit of him.”
Prior to reading Pope Francis’ proclamation appointing Cardinal McElroy, Cardinal Pierre encouraged the new archbishop of Washington to “familiarize yourself with the people who make up this Church: the clergy, the consecrated, and all the baptized.”
“You will enjoy many opportunities to affirm the works of grace and the expressions of discipleship that are alive within this Christian community,” the apostolic nuncio told Cardinal McElroy. “Through a genuine encounter with the people of God, and with their priests, you will share with them the life of the risen Christ, and journey with them to the house of the Father.”
In his official letter of appointment, Pope Francis called Cardinal McElroy a “venerable brother” and urged him to “commit yourself diligently to the work of preaching the Good News … (and) devote yourself to the growth of the People of God both in the theological virtues as well as in a humanity worthy of the Lord’s disciples.”
The pope also called on the faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington to show their new archbishop “filial love and compliance in faith.”
Cardinal Pierre told the new archbishop of Washington that he was “called by the Holy Spirit to serve almighty God and the people of the Archdiocese of Washington in faith and in love as their shepherd.”
In accepting the mandate to lead the Archdiocese of Washington, Cardinal McElroy promised “to serve faithfully the spiritual needs of this beautiful local Church.”
His proclamation to do so was met with sustained and fervent applause from those gathered in the National Shrine.
After the papal mandate was presented to the College of Consultors and faithful, Cardinal Pierre and Cardinal Gregory then escorted Cardinal McElroy to the shrine’s cathedra (bishop’s throne) and Cardinal Gregory presented him with a crozier, the shepherd’s staff that signifies his leadership of his new flock in the Archdiocese Washington. After he accepted the crozier, the faithful again welcomed their new archbishop with another rousing and sustained standing ovation.
After he was installed, Cardinal McElroy was greeted and welcomed to Washington by representatives of archdiocesan priests, deacons, seminarians, and men’s and women’s religious orders; staff from archdiocesan offices and ministries; Catholic school representatives; parish representatives; and members of other faith traditions.
To highlight the diversity of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington, the readings for the Mass were read and prayers were recited in both English and Spanish. Prayers of the Faithful were offered in English, Spanish, Tagalog (one of several Filipino languages), Quechua (an indigenous language of South America), American Sign Language, Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Igbo (the language of natives of southeastern Nigeria).
At the end of the Mass, Cardinal McElroy led the faithful in reciting a decade of the rosary for the health of Pope Francis. “Today we are especially joyous that the pope seems to be doing better,” the cardinal said.
As he processed from the altar, the faithful of Washington again hailed their new archbishop with applause and cheers.
After the installation, Cardinal McElroy hosted a receiving line in the National Shrine’s lower level. There, members of his new flock had the opportunity to meet the cardinal and have their photo taken with him.
On Sunday, March 16, Cardinal McElroy will celebrate an 11 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington. As the new archbishop of Washington, he will officially take possession of the cathedral where the “cathedra” (bishop’s throne) that represents the teaching authority of the bishop is located.
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