Cardinal Robert McElroy, aged 71, has been diagnosed with a non-aggressive cancer and is expected to make a full recovery, the Archdiocese of Washington DC announced on Wednesday morning.
According to the statement, the Archbishop of the US capital will undergo surgery on 13 November, and “his doctors are in consensus that his prognosis is very good.” The statement explained that the precise diagnosis is “well-differentiated liposarcoma, which is a non-aggressive cancer that tends not to metastasize.”
On the evening before the announcement, Cardinal McElroy informed the priests of the Archdiocese of Washington at their annual convocation and told them: “I am at peace with this challenge and hope and believe that in God’s grace I will be Archbishop of Washington for many years to come. I ask your prayers and support in these days and plan to resume full duties two weeks after the surgery.”
Because of his forthcoming surgery, Cardinal McElroy will be absent from next week’s meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, where members are expected to elect their next president and vice president. His absence means he will not take part in one of the most significant internal votes of the U.S. hierarchy, which will help determine the future leadership and direction of the bishops’ conference.
McElroy was installed as Archbishop of Washington on 11 March earlier this year, following his appointment by Pope Francis. Prior to that, he served as Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego and was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2022. As Archbishop of Washington he replaced the retiring Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the first African American cardinal, who served as the archbishop of Washington from 2019 until this year – after offering his resignation to the Pope upon turning 75, as required by canon law, on 7 December 2022 – and who now becomes archbishop emeritus.
He holds doctorates in sacred theology and in political science, and his tenure has been marked by outspoken engagement with social justice issues. Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI and later Bishop of San Diego by Pope Francis in 2015, McElroy quickly established himself as one of the most articulate exponents of the Francis pontificate in the United States.
Known as having been a close ally of the Pope, McElroy is viewed as a liberal and aligns closely with many priorities of Pope Francis’s pontificate, particularly regarding the plight of migrants and refugees. In 2017, during Trump’s first term, McElroy gave a speech in Modesto, California, explicitly criticising Trump and urging Catholics to become “disruptors” of the anti-immigrant agenda.
McElroy has continued to be a forceful advocate for migrants and the marginalised, frequently clashing with political leaders over issues of immigration and social welfare. He has denounced large-scale deportations as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine” and urged Catholics to “embrace migrants in a sustained, unwavering, prophetic, and compassionate way.”
In September, he characterised the US government’s campaign of deportations as “an unprecedented assault upon millions of immigrant men and women and families in our midst,” calling for believers to embrace migrants “in a sustained, unwavering, prophetic, and compassionate way.”
(Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)
