Washington D.C., Mar 11, 2025 / 20:25 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Robert McElroy emphasized the importance of Christian hope, mercy, and respecting human dignity in a homily in the nation’s capital during his solemn installation Mass in which he assumed the role as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.
More than 100 priests, bishops, dozens of religious sisters, and hundreds of Catholic laity attended the Mass on Tuesday afternoon at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The basilica sits adjacent to the campus of The Catholic University of America in the Brookland neighborhood of the city.
McElroy is replacing Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who is retiring from his position at the age of 77.
“With jubilant hearts, we say ‘welcome,’” Gregory said during a brief speech before the Mass began, which yielded a round of applause from Mass-goers.
McElroy devoted his first homily as the archbishop of Washington to highlight the need for Christian hope, which is the theme of the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year. He also spoke at length about the importance of mercy, compassion, and respect for human dignity.
The cardinal called on Catholics to be “pilgrims of hope in a wounded world” and pointed to the hope displayed by St. Mary Magdalene in Tuesday’s Gospel reading. John 20: 11-18 recounts Magdalene’s arrival to Christ’s empty tomb, where she weeped when she saw his body was gone, but maintained hope in Christ before ultimately encountering the resurrected Christ.
“She realized that every presupposition that she had about her life, her mission, her purpose in the world, needed to be changed,” McElroy said, and urged the faithful to “embrace the same risen Lord that Mary Magdalene encountered in the garden.” McElroy referenced Francis’ emphasis on mercy and compassion, saying the pontiff understands that “all of us are wounded, all of us are in pain, [and] all of us are sinners in need of mercy and forgiveness.”
“Mercy and compassion must be our first impulse when confronted with sin and human failure,” McElroy said.
“For hope arises when we confront ourselves as we truly are, understanding that the bountiful, merciful love of God is without limit, and undertake the call to live out the teachings of the church and be sacraments of mercy to others,” he added. “We are a Church which believes that love and truth do meet. That is precisely our glory as the children of God.”
The cardinal stressed the human dignity of every person, such as the unborn, migrants, and the poor.
“The search for genuine encounter and unity lie at the heart of God’s vision for our world, alongside special care for those who are most vulnerable among us,” he said. “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, brothers and sisters.”
The Mass was multilingual, including some prayers and readings in English and Spanish. The intercessions included several additional languages, including Haitian Creole, Tagalog, Igbo, and Chinese. The intercessions included prayers for Pope Francis, civil and political leaders, unborn children, migrants and refugees, and increased vocations.
At the end of the Mass, McElroy led the congregation in a decade of the rosary to pray for the continued recovery of Pope Francis, who has spent weeks in the hospital.
McElroy is taking charge of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. less than two months after President Donald Trump’s inauguration for his second non-consecutive term. Days after his appointment in January, the cardinal wished Trump success in the White House but also criticized his plans for mass deportations of immigrants who entered the country illegally.
“We are called always to have a sense of the dignity of every human person,” McElroy said on Jan. 6. “And thus, plans which have been talked about at some levels of having a wider indiscriminate massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine. So we’ll have to see what emerges in the administration.”
McElroy mostly avoided a discussion of politics during his homily, but spoke about concerns he has with division in the country.
“God is the Father of us all, and God sees us as equal in dignity and moral worth,” he said in the homily. “How deeply that contrasts with the world that we have made. Divisions of race and gender and ideology and nationality flourish in the world of politics, religion, family life and education.”
Pope Francis announced in early January that the 71-year-old McElroy would leave his post at the Archdiocese of San Francisco to assume his new role in the Church. McElroy, who holds a doctorate of sacred theology and a doctorate of political science, was made a cardinal by Francis in 2022.
Other concelebrants included Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop emeritus of Washington. Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich were also in attendance.
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