Robert Walter McElroy (born February 5, 1954) is an American Catholic prelate who was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope Francis in 2022 and was also appointed as Archbishop of Washington in 2025.

[4][3][6] On April 12, 1980, McElroy was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop John Raphael Quinn at St. Mary's Cathedral for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

[3] In 1983, McElroy was one of three priests who drafted a report for the archdiocesan Priests' Senate entitled "Ministry and Sexuality in the Archdiocese of San Francisco" that stated that "the homosexual orientation is not held to be a sinful condition" but called homosexual persons to "[live] out the demands of chastity within that orientation," endorsing a gradualist approach that "assists the person toward a progressive assimilation of the church's ethical values.

He criticized San Francisco's recognition of LGBT couples as domestic partnerships, arguing that it destabilized traditional family structures.

From the moment of his election, Pope Francis has captured the attention of the American people with his message and manner, even as he has challenged us all to deep renewal and reform in our lives.

Americans take heart in the pope's call to build an ecclesiastical culture that casts off judgmentalism; they applaud structural reforms at the Vatican; and they admire Francis's continuing focus on the pastoral needs of ordinary men and women.

[5][18] In his first public appearance in San Diego, he pledged to champion the cause of the homeless, to support comprehensive immigration reform, and to ban anyone who has abused minors from serving in the clergy or other employment in the diocese.

[20] In a speech delivered on February 17, 2016, McElroy called on Catholics "to recognize and confront the ugly tide of anti-Islamic bigotry" in the United States.

He denounced as "repeated falsehoods" claims that Islam is a violent religion and compared these allegations to 19th century anti-Catholicism in America.

McElroy, like most members of the Church hierarchy, including Pope Francis and the USCCB, opposed plans by U.S. President Donald Trump to a build a wall along the Mexico–United States border to limit illegal immigration.

After the visit, McElroy said, "It is a sad day for our country when we trade the majestic, hope-filled symbolism of the Statue of Liberty for an ineffective and grotesque wall, which both displays and inflames the ethnic and cultural divisions that have long been the underside of our national history.

"[23]At a 2018 meeting, McElroy was asked by several lay Catholics about an openly gay man, Aaron Bianco, who was working at St. John the Evangelist Parish.

McElroy said that although acts of abortion are intrinsically evil, legislation about it is a matter of prudential judgement, though he noted that the commitment to reducing the numbers of abortions that occur "has been eviscerated in the Democratic Party in a capitulation to notions of privacy that simply block out the human identity and rights of unborn children."

Catholic social teaching and identity encompasses such things as solidarity, compassion, love for the church, and "having a grace-filled relationship with God".

The predominantly latino congregation marched downtown, through Waterfront Park, and stopping at a stage near the Alfred J. Schwartz Federal Building and ending with an afteroon vigil at St. Joseph Cathedral where every pew was filled.

Subsequently, Sipe had a letter discussing alleged sexual misconduct by retired Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and other clerics, disguised as a major donation, hand-delivered to McElroy's office by a process server.

"[32]A 2018 article in America reported that "[McElroy] said that the material he received from Mr. Sipe was passed on to the proper governing bodies in Rome.

"[34] In America, McElroy called for a change in sacramental discipline related to the reception of communion by sexually active LGBT people.

He added "We have witnessed the reality that bishops of various parts of the world have made rapidly divergent decisions about the acceptability of such blessings in their countries".