San Diego’s Catholic bishop to become cardinal, a first for the diocese

San Diego Catholic Bishop Robert McElroy was named by Pope Francis on Sunday as one of 21 new cardinals, which will be first time that the local diocese will be headed by a cardinal.

McElroy is the only member of the group from North America. Eight are from Europe, six are from Asia, four are from South America and two are from Africa. They will be officially installed by the pope at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Aug. 27.

McElroy, 68, said in a statement that he was “stunned and deeply surprised” by the appointment.

“My prayer is that in this ministry I might be of additional service to the God who has graced me on so many levels in my life,” McElroy said. “And I pray also that I can assist the Holy Father in his pastoral renewal of the Church.”

He thanked his family as well as the priests and “women religious” who guided him as he grew up and pursued his chosen vocation.

McElroy did not make himself available to reporters on Sunday. Not knowing the announcement was coming, he had scheduled events with parishioners and chose to stick to his plan.

That decision to serve the community first highlights a reason why many said that he was chosen as a cardinal.

“He has the heart of a pastor,” said the Rev. Efrain Bautista of Corpus Christi Parish in Bonita. “The pope wants bishops to have the ‘smell of the sheep,’ and Bishop McElroy is one of those bishops.”

McElroy is known for taking stances on social justice issues including encouraging communities to welcome immigrants and refugees and to protect the environment. He has also expressed support to improve the church’s outreach to LGBTQ people.

McElroy has criticized a push among some leaders of the Catholic Church — notably Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in San Francisco — who want to deny Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.

Cordileone said recently he will no longer allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, to receive Communion because of her stance on the issue.

McElroy has said that Communion should not be politicized.

“It will bring tremendously destructive consequences,” McElroy wrote in May 2021. “The Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare. This must not happen.”

He grew up in the San Francisco area and received history degrees from Harvard and Stanford. He studied at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, and in 1985 received a theology degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. He obtained a doctorate in moral theology at the Gregorian University in Rome the following year and a Ph.D in political science at Stanford in 1989.

McElroy was ordained a priest in 1980 and served a variety of pastoral assignments in Northern California. He became an auxiliary bishop in San Francisco in 2010. In 2015, early in Francis’ pontificate, he was named bishop of San Diego.

“His strong faith and the pastoral concern for the faithful he has shown in his diocese will serve the global Church well,” Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.

Francis has been upending centuries of tradition by choosing cardinals from areas that have never before had cardinals, such as San Diego. It used to be that becoming archbishop in a major city like Los Angeles, San Francisco or Philadelphia was an almost certain steppingstone to becoming a cardinal. Currently none of the archbishops of those cities are cardinals.

Cardinals who are younger than 80 participate in papal elections, which are called conclaves. McElroy will also participate in conversations with other cardinals and the Vatican about decisions that the Catholic Church is facing.

“It’s really a blessing and speaks highly of both Bishop McElroy and the church of San Diego,” Bautista said. “It means for us that San Diego has a voice.”

Bautista shared the news of McElroy’s appointment at the Sunday morning Masses at his church. When he told those who showed up for the 12:30 p.m. service what had happened, they erupted in cheers and applause.

The Rev. Efrain Bautista tells attendees of the 12:30 p.m. Mass at Corpus Christi Parish that Bishop Robert McElroy was selected to become a cardinal.

(Kate Morrissey/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

He joked that when he heard his phone receive a text message around 3:15 a.m., he at first tried to roll over and go back to sleep. But when he heard more messages coming in soon after that, he decided someone in his church must be in crisis. He grabbed his phone and saw it was his friends in Rome wanting to chat about McElroy.

The Rev. Adnan Ghani, a priest with the Order of Saint Augustine, said he’d learned about the appointment around 6 a.m. when he was reading the Vatican’s news site, as he does most days.

“I was overjoyed,” said Ghani, who was ordained by McElroy in 2019. “He’s very enthusiastic, he has concerns for people. He’s available. He will walk with you and listen to you.”

Peter Brewster, a member of the Corpus Christi Parish and of the Knights of Columbus, said he found out while celebrating the 7:30 a.m. Mass at the church.

“It makes you feel as a Catholic that you have a direct line to Rome now,” he said.

After the 11 a.m. Mass, parishioners buzzed with excitement over the news.

“We’re really happy to be in the Catholic community and to have this privilege for the first time in San Diego,” said Jorge Martinez. “He’s focused on the community, especially the Latino community.”

Arcelia Corona had invited her friend Marta Gonzalez Aguirre to the Mass that morning. They walked out of the church together, arm in arm.

“I’m very happy,” Gonzalez Aguirre said when asked about the bishop’s appointment.

“I feel very blessed,” Corona added. “What a privilege.”

The Associated Press and The New York Times contributed to this report.