Barry C. Knestout

Previously, Knestout served as the priest secretary for Cardinal James Hickey of Washington and then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Thomas was a deacon who served as a cryptologist for the National Security Agency and as the director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Washington.

In planning the papal visit, Knestout collaborated with his brother Mark, who was director of the archdiocese Office of Worship at the time.

[3] Barry Knestout ran a contest for architecture students at The Catholic University of America in Washington to design the altar and chair for the pope to use when celebrating mass at Nationals Park in that city.

He was consecrated on December 29, 2008, by Wuerl, with Bishops Francisco Valer and Martin Holley serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

During that year, Cardinal McCarrick traveled frequently in his work with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and in his other duties as Cardinal.In May 2020, Knestout suspended Reverend Mark White from ministry for violations of canon law.

[13] In February 2023, Knestout protested a leaked internal memo from the Richmond office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The memo mentioned the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) as possible contact points in the Richmond area for White nationalists.

[14] Knestout in February 2024 condemned the proposed Death with Dignity bill in the Virginia General Assembly that would have legalized assisted suicide supervised by a physician.