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By Gavin Ashenden, Catholic Herald, January 28, 2025
Catholic America is reeling from the surprise of the new presidency’s political appointments at every level, which are decisively reshaping the political landscape.
One of the most unexpected developments has not come from the White House but from the Vatican: the retirement of Cardinal Wilton Gregory as Archbishop of Washington left a vacancy for Rome to fill following his resignation in 2022. This appointment has suddenly acquired political significance that eclipses accompanying pastoral and spiritual considerations.
According to the Catholic journal the Pillar, the papal nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, had already advised the Vatican that appointing Cardinal McElroy would be deeply polarising. He was not alone in holding this view.
Many conservative Catholics were alarmed and offended when McElroy was elevated to Cardinal over his archbishop, José Gómez, who, particularly as a Hispanic, would have seemed an obvious candidate for a “red hat.” His archdiocese, after all, comprised more than four million Catholics. …
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