SAN DIEGO — Cardinal Robert W. McElroy will soon be leaving San Diego to begin his new assignment as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.
The cardinal is scheduled to relocate to the nation’s capital during the first week of March, although he will continue to serve as San Diego’s diocesan administrator until March 11, when he will be installed as archbishop of Washington.
The installation Mass will be live-streamed at 11 a.m. (Pacific) through the diocese’s website.
Cardinal McElroy’s last public event in the Diocese of San Diego, which he has led for almost 10 years, will be the annual Sisters Appreciation and Jubilee Celebration. On March 1, he will celebrate Mass for the religious sisters of the diocese and join them at a luncheon, where those sisters celebrating milestone anniversaries in religious life will be recognized.
On March 17, the diocese’s College of Consultors will convene to elect another diocesan administrator, who will shepherd the San Diego Diocese until Cardinal McElroy’s successor has been named by Pope Francis and has taken possession of the diocese.
The College of Consultors is an 11-member body consisting of the three auxiliary bishops –– Ramon Bejarano, Michael Pham and Felipe Pulido –– and eight priests appointed by Cardinal McElroy to assist him in diocesan governance. These priests include: Fathers Efrain Bautista, Peter Escalante, Reynaldo Manahan, Devadhasan Masillamony, Lauro Minimo, Michael Murphy, Matthew Spahr and Edmundo Zárate Suárez.
Candidates for diocesan administrator are nominated by the consultors and voted upon by secret ballot. Candidates must be at least 35 years old and “outstanding in doctrine and prudence.”
It’s unknown how long it will take before the next bishop of San Diego is installed.
