Biography

Robert W. McElroy was born in San Francisco on Feb. 5, 1954, to Walter and Roberta McElroy. A fifth generation San Franciscan, Bishop McElroy lived until he was ten years old in Daly City, attending Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School. His family then moved to Burlingame, where he and his three sisters and brother attended and graduated from Our Lady of Angels School.

During his youth, Bishop McElroy felt called to the Catholic priesthood, and thus after eighth grade he entered St. Joseph High School in Mountain View, which was the high school seminary of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Upon graduating, Bishop McElroy was still committed to seeking a life in the priesthood but concluded that it would be best to pursue his vocation in a college outside the seminary system. Thus in 1972 he entered Harvard College and graduated three years later with a bachelor’s degree in American history. Bishop McElroy attended graduate school at Stanford University and in 1976 received a master’s degree in American history and in 1989 a doctorate in Political Science. 

In 1979 he was granted a master’s in Divinity (M.Div), and a License in Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley in 1985 and a doctorate in Moral Theology (STD) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1987.

Reentering the seminary in the fall of 1976, Bishop McElroy attended St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco on April 12, 1980. His first assignment was St. Cecilia Parish in San Francisco, which was the parish where both of his parents had grown up and attended grammar school, and the church where they were married.

Parish work has always been his first love. In 1989, he served as parochial vicar at St. Pius Parish in Redwood City. 

In 1995 Archbishop Quinn appointed Bishop McElroy vicar general of the Archdiocese, a post he continued to hold under Cardinal William Levada, who succeeded Archbishop Quinn.

In 1996 Bishop McElroy was made a prelate of honor by St. John Paul II and appointed pastor of St. Gregory Parish in San Mateo by Cardinal Levada. He had the immense happiness of serving in this same parish for more than 15 years.

Bishop McElroy was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Francisco by Pope Benedict XVI on July 6, 2010 and was ordained by Archbishop George Niederauer at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Sept. 7, 2010. He became the Archdiocesan Vicar for Parish Life and Development and served in that role until his appointment to be the sixth bishop of San Diego in March of 2015.

When he was informed that Pope Francis had appointed him to be the sixth bishop of San Diego, Bishop McElroy said:

“When I was growing up, my family would come to San Diego for our summer vacation, and I was captivated by the beauty and vitality of this graced region. During my years as a priest and bishop, I have continually been struck by this same beauty and vitality in the life of the local church — proclaiming the Gospel, embracing the poor and the marginalized, strengthening family life, forging unity in faith and solidarity amidst great cultural diversity. Now I have the privilege of becoming a member and a leader in this magnificent Catholic community and the society which surrounds it. There are not words to describe the tremendous joy and gratitude to God which I feel at this moment.”

Pope Francis appointed Bishop McElroy to the College of Cardinals on May 29, 2022. Cardinal-Designate McElroy was installed in a consistory on Aug. 27 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He is a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.