Cardinal McElroy goes to Washington as papal ally on climate issues

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January 10, 2025

Then-Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego attends the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 6, 2019. (CNS/Paul Haring)

The big news in U.S. Catholicism this week was Pope Francis naming San Diego's Cardinal Robert McElroy as successor to Cardinal Wilton Gregory in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

The D.C. episcopate is considered one of the most influential for the U.S. Catholic Church, as it resides within the same city as the national bishops' conference and has close proximity to the presidency and Capitol Hill. Appointing a papal ally to this central U.S. post sends a strong message about the priorities Francis would like to see here.

This change in D.C. church leadership comes alongside a change in leadership for the country, too, and many foresee challenges for McElroy in President-elect Donald Trump's Washington because of their differing perspectives on a breadth of issues, including climate change.

NCR environment correspondent Brian Roewe reports that during the first Trump administration, McElroy called out the president's environmentally harmful actions, including Trump's climate denial.

When asked about environmental concerns during a press conference Jan. 6, McElroy indicated he's ready to do the same, saying "care for our home on this Earth, for the planet, and all of the abuse which it is suffering . . . is a top issue, in terms of our world."

The next day (Jan. 7) at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Trump pledged to roll back environmental regulations and criticized the National Environmental Policy Act.

This oppositional approach to environmental policy raises concern among Catholic climate policy advocates who told OSV News that care for creation shouldn't be a partisan issue. Groups such as Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si' Movement say they have worked with both Republican and Democratic administrations in the past and plan to do the same moving forward.

What else is new on EarthBeat:

Jimmy Carter's environmental legacy lives on in communities of faith

by Jay Horton

Despite political resistance and a challenging economic landscape, Carter's environmental policies were ahead of their time. He viewed sustainability as a moral calling, rooted in a deep respect for the interconnectedness of creation.

Catholic church, school destroyed in Pacific Palisades wildfire

by Timothy J. Burger

Corpus Christi church leveled as wind-whipped fires devastate communities in Los Angeles County. "So much of it has been wiped away," local pastor says.

Salvadoran cardinal urges 'resistance' to metal mining as matter of life and death

by Rhina Guidos

"We have to be prophets of hope" and prevent mining water contamination, "including physically, if necessary," Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez said in a homily, as El Salvador is poised to reverse its ban on metal mining.

Entering Jubilee 2025 with hope for our common home

by Joseph J. Tyson, Religion News Service

When we are tempted to lose hope, we must remember that it is not a feeling or an emotion but a virtue, says the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima in Washington state.

What's happening in other climate news:

You just lived through the hottest year on record. Again. —Chico Harlan, Scott Dance and Ben Noll for The Washington Post

10 dead, more than 9,000 structures damaged or destroyed in L.A. fires; windy weather continues —Rong-Gong Lin II, Noah Haggerty, Connor Sheets, Ruben Vives, Julia Wick, Hannah Fry, Grace Toohey, Noah Goldberg, Rebecca Ellis, Summer Lin, Terry Castleman, Clara Harter and Daniel Miller for the Los Angeles Times

It's not really the typical time for nasty California fires. What changed that? —Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press

Biden issues ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters. Trump vows to undo it —Matthew Daly for the Associated Press

Trump team takes aim at crown jewel of US climate research —Scott Waldman for E&E News

What happened to Carter's White House solar panels? They lived on. —Austyn Gaffney for The New York Times

Thailand bans imports of plastic waste to curb toxic pollution —Sandra Laville for the Guardian

Catholic social teaching demands a better kind of farming —Renée Roden for U.S. Catholic

Final Beat:

I was returning from family leave on the day the McElroy news broke. A huge thanks to Brian Roewe for serving as interim environment editor while I took time off with a new baby! I'm excited to be back at EarthBeat for another year of faith and climate coverage you won't find anywhere else.

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical, Laudato Si', and we'll be taking a look at how the church has — and hasn't — embraced its teachings on care for our common home. Have a story idea for us? Email earthbeat@ncronline.org.

Thanks for reading EarthBeat.

Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org
Instagram: @stephaniecherpakclary