BREAKING: Cardinal McElroy announces new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington, transfer of local bishop to Wheeling, WV

                        Most Rev. Gary Studniewski 

                      Most Reverend Robert Boxie

The following letter was transmitted electronically early this morning:

May 1, 2026 

I am delighted to share with you the news that today Pope Leo has appointed Father Gary Studniewski and Father Robert Boxie to be Auxiliary Bishops of the Archdiocese of Washington. Both are exemplary leaders in our local church, and they will provide great wisdom, counsel and collaboration to me and selfless priestly service to the entire People of God in the District and the five Maryland counties. 

 Bishop-Elect Studniewski brings an immensely rich and varied life of accomplishment and service to his new role in the Church. A native of Toledo, Ohio, the Bishop-Elect was ordained for the Archdiocese in 1995 and has served as a parochial vicar; a distinguished chaplain in the United States Army rising to the rank of Colonel; and pastor of both Saint Peter's Parish on Capitol Hill and the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. As a dean, member of the presbyteral council and mentor to our newly ordained, he has shown the Christ-like love and priestliness that are emblematic of our presbyterate. In each of these roles, he has demonstrated profound faith, collaborative leadership, pastoral sensitivity, initiative and zeal, making him an ideal candidate for the episcopacy.

Bishop-Elect Boxie was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After graduating from Vanderbilt and Harvard Law School, he came to Washington to clerk for a federal judge and then work in a law firm, and during those years felt an ever-deepening confirmation of the call to the priesthood that had come to him earlier in life. He was ordained for the Archdiocese in 2016 and received his first assignment as parochial vicar at Saint Joseph in Largo under the tutelage of Bishop Roy Campbell, who was a wonderful mentor to him. Presently, Bishop-Elect Boxie is the Catholic chaplain for Howard University, where he has deeply enhanced the ministry and community there, while building a chapel and dramatically renewing the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center. He has a priestly heart and keen intelligence, as well as the prayerful compassion and evangelizing core that will be a great gift to our local church in deepening our outreach to all and helping particularly to enrich our black communities.

Today the Holy Father has also announced the appointment of Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala to be the new bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. All of you understand how great a loss this is for the Archdiocese. Bishop Menjivar's pastoral love and zeal, as well as his passion for justice and sensitive care for the Hispanic and immigrant communities of our Archdiocese have planted seeds of grace that will yield a harvest here for decades to come. Our consolation is that the people of West Virginia will have a splendid new bishop to continue the work that Bishop Brennan has undertaken there, and for that we give thanks.

Finally, Pope Leo also announced today that he has accepted the resignation of Bishop Roy Campbell as auxiliary bishop of Washington. To Bishop Campbell, who has so magnificently served as pastor and shepherd within our local church, our only words must be thanks. It was a great gift to the Archdiocese that God called Bishop Campbell from his life as a successful banking executive to enter the pathway to the priesthood and ultimately the episcopate. His wisdom, prudence, and love for Our Lord and Our Lady, combined with a keen mind for administration and a caring heart for the poor and the marginalized to provide for us a magnificent leader for the life of our Archdiocese. And his particular care for the black communities of our Archdiocese is an immense grace to our local church. Bishop Campbell will continue as pastor of Saint Joseph until July. It is a fitting tribute to him that Bishop-Elect Boxie, whom Bishop Campbell formed in his f irst assignment, now has been appointed a bishop on the same day that Bishop Campbell retires as auxiliary bishop.

I give thanks to Pope Leo for his great care for the people of the Archdiocese of Washington, and for providing to our local church and to the people of West Virginia such splendid episcopal leadership. And I thank Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who has done so much to make these appointments possible during his service as our Papal Nuncio. Most importantly, I give thanks for all of you in your priestly sacrifices and generous faith.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Robert Cardinal McElroy Archbishop of Washington.

“Catholic Maxxing”, online click-bait mania and getting Sacraments repeated “conditionally”

I must confess that I was somewhat puzzled recently over the near-homicidal rage resulting from a certain frustrated effort to get a traditional, as in 1962 rite, (read lock-tight guaranteed validity and liceity, etc.) sacrament re-conferred conditionally.

Imagine if you will the sheer weirdness necessary for someone who claims Catholic faith to react angrily to the news they received a valid sacrament (which just so happens to be the sort that cannot be repeated. Such as Confirmation, for example.)  Now it all makes sense …

This from James the Catholic @thetexastrad:

“ @RealCandaceO continues Catholic Maxxing as she reveals she recently got confirmed in the faith, in the Traditional Rite, by a cardinal, on a recent trip to Rome.

May God continue to bless and keep her.”

James the Catholic names it: “Catholic Maxxing.” Read it again: “by a Cardinal”. Why go to Rome to get a sacrament readily available in almost any parish here at home? It’s just ever so slightly better than receiving the sacrament from, say, a mere priest with delegation in a plain old US parish.  And so much better for “Internet beauty contest” purposes. Much more click-worthy. Admiring glances can be counted ever so much more efficiently on the Internet.

Candace got clicks, no doubt. Everybody wants to see the pics of her and the Cardinal who confirmed her. Or at least the pose in a beautiful Roman church with her photogenic family. Big news! We’re living large on the internet, now. Distraction from the hum-drum details of daily life in abundance. Etc.

There are any number of internet-induced mental illnesses and moral sicknesses. “Looks Maxxing” is the current rage, where any medical, pharmacological or surgical, intervention is sought to “improve” appearance. No thought of consequences in 50 years. If one lives that long, such that all the surgeries begin to fall apart and the drugs wreak havoc on the system. But the mania is driven by the extreme superficiality available on the Internet: appearance is everything.

Porn is another aspect of online activity that presents a constant moral danger to anyone viewing a screen or phone.

Addiction looms.

Catholics who can run with the photogenic crowd, for a while at least, in their youth, can get free online entertainment. They can collect likes, followers and “friends”. They can compete for the “trad chad” title and tout their “clout”.

But images are needed. Feeding the voracious appetite for photos, pics, and getting clicks sends the potential chad trad on a constant hunt for new thrills and chills.

Well, going to a trad group known for generously offering conditional Confirmations can get you a photo op afterward with a REAL trad Archbishop, consecrated in the REAL old rite. Wow! And the vestments will provide the super “drip” that all the kids like! Such is sure to look swell on my Insta and social media. I will win the admiration of all my friends and countless strangers, too!

Catholic to the max. Catholic Maxxing victory. Marinating in self satisfaction results. But only for a while ….

Many young sub-25 individuals without fully formed brains are madly putting everything on the internet. As are many whose brains are only recently fully formed.  

Sure, the first thing sketchy bad actors do is block anyone who might track and identify their psychopathic and anti-social behavior. Comfort is measured by cushioning oneself from the nasty consequences of personal misbehavior as long as possible. While, no doubt, assuring oneself the personal content can be otherwise conceal from certain unwanted prying eyes as occasion warrants. Good luck with that. In any conflict with AI and big internet the odds are always stacked against the lonely individual without a millionaire lawyer.

Now, on to the next online competition for most views, likes and retweets. Catholic to the max! Well, at least superficially. They won’t really find out about the IRL, will they?