The new leader of the Roman Catholic Church Diocese in San Diego has been named.
Robert W. McElroy, 61, an auxiliary bishop in San Francisco, has been named the new bishop for San Diego, which has about one million Catholics.
During his introduction Tuesday, McElroy showed a sense of humor, joking about moving from his native San Francisco to San Diego.
He then turned his attention toward championing immigration in America's Finest City, where minorities are now the majority.
"Immigration is the vitality of our nation. It's the source of its strength and its diversity and all of the richness and beauty that makes us a people, a fabric, as Americans," he said.
He urged lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The foundation of his vision is likely rooted in his studies at St. Patrick's Seminary in Northern California, where San Diego Father Peter Escalante met McElroy.
"Even back then, his area of study was Catholic social teaching," said Escalante.
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Thirty-six years later, Escalante said McElroy's passion is evident in his signature issues: economic inequality and outreach to the poor.
Escalante sees those as major issues in San Diego with its homeless individuals, some of whom attend mass at Escalante's church, St. Joseph's Cathedral.
"All of us in parish life and here in the area are aware of issues of immigration," he said. "Certainly here in downtown San Diego, the outreach to the poor is a major part of our ministry. I assume he'll be proactive in those areas."
McElroy is described as a progressive due to some of his writings, which place abortion and same-sex marriage on par with economic and human rights issues.
As Bishop of San Diego, Catholic education will be within his purview. He will make appointments to the board of the University of San Diego's trustees, and he will act as a superintendent of sorts for Catholic schools.
Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore J. Cordileone congratulated McElroy in a release:
"Bishop McElroy is exemplary in his outreach to many groups and communities in the Archdiocese and we are all grateful for his wise advice and guidance to people and parishes in the Archdiocese," Cardileone said. "We pray for God’s blessing upon Bishop McElroy as he assumes pastoral leadership of the priests and priestly people of San Diego and Imperial County."
McElroy was born in San Francisco in 1954 and was raised in San Mateo County, according to a biography on the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Before his appointment as auxiliary bishop, McElroy spent 14 years as the pastor of St. Gregory Parish.
The new San Diego bishop has history degrees from Harvard and Stanford universities, and he studied at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkley. His doctorates are in moral theology from Gregorian University in Rome and in political science from Stanford.
McElroy will succeed Bishop Cirilo Flores and will be installed on April 15 at St. Therese of Carmel Church. Flores died Sept. 6 after suffering from a series of medical ailment at the age of 65. Msgr. Steven Callahan took over for Flores on an interim basis.
