McElroy, known for a pastoral approach to migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, will lead an archdiocese still bruised by a sexual abuse and mismanagement scandal.

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego as the archbishop of Washington, D.C. He is tapping one of his most progressively like-minded allies to head the Catholic Church in the U.S.

Pope Francis is moving the head of San Diego’s Roman Catholic Diocese to Washington, D.C., placing a prominent ally, as well as a supporter of migrant and LGBTQ communities, in the nation’s capital as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to launch mass deportations and a rollback of transgender rights.