Cardinal Robert McElroy was installed as the archbishop of Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2025, at the National Shrine in our nation’s capital. Fr. Barry and Helene Stever, DRE, attended the Installation Mass.
The basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was full, and the entrance processional snaked around the nave, as thousands of Catholics and hundreds of clerics from across the country arrived in fleets of buses to see the cardinal take possession of the capital see.
While episcopal installations in Washington tend to draw a full house, McElroy’s arrival was especially well attended — more than 80 bishops, archbishops, and cardinals concelebrated.
“I come as your bishop seeking to know and understand this magnificent community of faith,” Cardinal McElroy said. “As your pastor, an essential element of my mission is to encounter the hearts and the souls of the disciples who form our local Church.”