Cardinal Robert W. McElroy

2025 SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON AWARD
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy
Archbishop of Washington

Robert Cardinal McElroy was appointed by Pope Francis in 2025 to serve as the eighth Archbishop of Washington.

During his youth, Cardinal McElroy felt called to the Catholic priesthood. Subsequently, after eighth grade, he entered St. Joseph High School in Mountain View, which was the high school seminary of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Upon graduating, Cardinal McElroy entered Harvard College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in American history. He earned a master’s degree in American history and a doctorate degree in Political Science from Stanford University. Additionally, Cardinal McElroy earned a master’s degree in Divinity (M.Div.) from St. Patrick Seminary, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the Jesuit School of Theology. He also holds a doctorate in Moral Theology (STD) from The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Cardinal McElroy was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco on April 12, 1980. Parish work has always been his first love. His first assignment was St. Cecilia Parish in San Francisco, which was the parish where both of his parents had grown up, attended grammar school, and were later married.

In 1995, Archbishop Quinn appointed then-Father McElroy vicar general of the Archdiocese, a post he continued to hold under Cardinal William Levada. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal McElroy auxiliary bishop of San Francisco. He served as Archdiocesan Vicar for Parish Life and Development until his appointment as the sixth bishop of San Diego in March 2015.

Cardinal McElroy was appointed to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis in 2022 and is a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.