Pope Francis turned 88 years old last month, yet he remains as energetic as ever in influencing the direction of the Catholic Church. This week, the Roman pontiff named the very progressive Cardinal Robert McElroy as the archbishop of the prized Archdiocese of Washington.

McElroy had in recent months attracted the concern of his fellow American bishops for his perceived willingness to cross the line on some of the Church’s core doctrinal precepts. That came to a head after McElroy penned an essay in America Magazine in which he, among other things, claimed that women’s ordination to the priesthood is still on the table and that those who are actively continuing to take part in homosexual or extramarital activity should be able to receive the Eucharist. Bishop Thomas Paprocki responded to that essay by suggesting that Cardinal McElroy’s statements had amounted to heresy.
The selection of McElroy as archbishop of Washington exemplifies the worst of Pope Francis’ tendencies. It remains unclear if Pope Francis is aware of how radical McElroy is, or if he has simply proceeded from the conclusion that the majority of bishops in America are too harsh, unwelcoming, and unloving, and allied himself with what he perceives to be the flip side of that. The pope’s inability to speak English, combined with the fact that he has the far-left wing of the Church whispering in his ear, has perhaps caused him to lose the plot on the true intentions of the progressive group McElroy has allied himself with.
Whatever the reasons for Pope Francis’ seemingly poor decision to select Cardinal McElroy to head up the Archdiocese of Washington, his decisions with a similar progressive bent, including his 2023 directive that priests can bless same-sex couples, have stirred a backlash in the Church. For many, the domineering progressivism has gone too far. The winds of centrism are gathering strength. There is now a sense that the next pope will occupy a middle ground. He will not be progressive, ...