Robert W. McElroy was born in San Francisco on February 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) at St. Patrick Seminary, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) 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, California, 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.
The following year, 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 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 no 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. He 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. He is a future Elector of the next Pope.
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Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.
Bishop Pham’s coat of arms depicts a red boat on a blue ocean, which is crisscrossed by diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is often referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, who was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic and cultural communities. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire allude to the blood of the martyrs.
The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.
