I praise God for it because it helped to form me and shape me to be the bishop that I am,” he said of his time in the Diocese of Belleville.

The decision struck many Vatican observers as an odd choice for an institution that usually tries to select conciliatory bishops for key positions. McElroy, a San Diego native who

McElroy of San Diego has been appointed the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, following Pope Francis' acceptance of the resignation of Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the first African American cardinal, the Vatican announced Jan. 6.