WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Promising to “guard the deposit of faith pure and entire” and to “encourage the holy people of God and to guide them in the way of salvation,” Bishop Gary R. Studniewski and Bishop Robert P. Boxie III were ordained July 7 as auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Washington.
“Today, the face of God smiles upon this archdiocese with intense love,” Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said as he greeted those who packed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the episcopal ordinations. “We have been blessed,” he added, by Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of the two priests to the episcopate.
“All of us gathered today have the joy and the privilege of witnessing the grace of Spirit come upon these two men and set them aside in their new ministry as bishops,” the cardinal said. “I cannot tell you, Robert and Gary, how much I am overjoyed by your selection … and your sharing your talents and insights with the people of God.”
Each bishops promised to serve as a ‘good shepherd’
About 2,500 people attending the nearly three-hour bilingual liturgy at the basilica included family and friends of the new bishops, the faithful from throughout the archdiocese, members of men’s and women’s religious orders and representatives of other faith traditions.
They witnessed as each new bishop promised to serve the faithful as a “good shepherd, to seek out the sheep who stray and to gather them into the Lord’s fold” and to “carry out until death with the grace of the Holy Spirit the office (of bishop).”
Cardinal McElroy was the principal consecrator of the new bishops and the main celebrant of the Mass.
Co-consecrators were Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, retired archbishop of Washington, and Bishop Mark E. Brennan, the recently retired bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, who formerly served as vocations director of the Archdiocese of Washington and was instrumental in the priestly formation of Bishop Studniewski.
Among the three cardinals, 26 bishops and more than 230 priests participating at the Mass were Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, a retired archbishop of Washington; Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, a former Washington auxiliary bishop; Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, also a former Washington auxiliary; and Bishop William D. Byrne of Springfield, Massachusetts, whose ordination as a priest was for the Washington Archdiocese.
Also participating were Bishop Evelio Menjívar-Ayala, a former Washington auxiliary who was installed July 2 as the bishop of Wheeling-Charleston; Washington Auxiliary Bishop Juan Esposito, vicar general and moderator of the Curia; and retired Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr.
The rite of episcopal ordination during the Mass followed the proclamation of the Gospel according to John (15:9-17) in which Jesus commanded his followers to “love one another as I have loved you.”
Quoting from that Gospel reading — “As the father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love” — Cardinal McElroy told the new bishops, “You stand here today precisely because you have known the love of God deeply in your hearts for the whole of your life.
“You have radiated that love through your priestly ministry. You have experienced the love of God profoundly through the grace of your parents and family,” he said. “You heard the loving call of God to the priesthood amidst careers in which you were deeply embedded.”
‘The scope of your mission will expand’
Prior to the ordinations, Archbishop Caccia read the apostolic letter of appointment, for each soon-to-be bishop, then they processed through the basilica, showing the letters to the congregation, followed by cascades of applause.
Cardinal McElroy asked the bishops-designate if they would “proclaim the Gospel of Christ faithfully and unfailingly” and “reach out in kindness and mercy to the poor, to strangers, and to all those in need.”
The two men promised that they would do so.
“The footprints of grace you have left during your priestly ministry are deep and enduring.” Cardinal McElroy told them.
“The scope of your mission will expand as you are called to serve the people of God in this local Church in all of its diversity and splendor,” the cardinal said, adding that meeting diverse Catholic communities “will inflame your hearts with the magnificence of the universal call to holiness as it is lived in every culture.”
Each received the symbols of their office — the Book of the Gospels, an episcopal ring, a miter and a crozier, or pastoral staff.
After Communion, the new bishops walked through the cathedral, holding their shepherd’s staff and blessing their families, friends and the members of the Church of Washington who came to celebrate their new auxiliary bishops.
Again, cascades of applause followed their processions through the basilica.
Moments later, the new bishops directly addressed the faithful.
‘You shine with the bright light of Christ’
Bishop Studniewski, a native of Toledo, Ohio, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1995 and served for 18 years as a chaplain in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of colonel.
“So much of my character, my values and my leadership was formed in an Army uniform,” he said.
After leaving the military chaplaincy, the future bishop served as pastor of both St. Peter’s Parish on Capitol Hill and the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington. He thanked the members of both those parishes for helping to form him as a priest.
Looking at the diverse crowd gathered before him, the new bishop called it “a beautiful representation of the Church of Washington I fell in love with 40 years ago. You shine with the bright light of Christ.”
“From the moment I first encountered the Archdiocese of Washington through the Cursillo movement, I have desired to love and serve you,” he told the faithful.
Cursillo is an 80-year-old Catholic movement that forms the faithful in their Catholic faith, leadership, spiritual renewal and evangelization.
He called his episcopal ordination “an undeserved gift … a pure gift to me, and to the Church.”
“I am very thankful for this gift. I praise God for this gift,” he said.
Bishop Studniewski has chosen “My Grace is Sufficient for You” as his episcopal motto.
‘Message of hope and solidarity’
In his remarks, Bishop Boxie said he was “grateful to God for the blessing of this day,” calling it “a powerful witness of what God is doing in our Church and in our country right now.”
Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the future bishop came to Washington to clerk for a federal judge and then worked in a law firm after graduating from Vanderbilt University and Harvard Law School.
Ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2016, he first served as a parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Derwood, Maryland, and then at St. Joseph in Largo, Maryland.
Looking at family, friends, fellow priests and seminarian classmates and former parishioners gathered at the Mass, Bishop Boxie said, “I see my past, present and future here.”
He told his brother priests that “it has been a great gift of my life to labor among you,” and told the faithful that “I look forward to visiting your communities to listen to you and to learn from you.”
Since 2020, Bishop Boxie has served as the Catholic chaplain for Howard University, where he led the building of a chapel for the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center there.
He spoke directly to Howard University students at the Mass: “The Roman Catholic Church thanks you for forming and giving her a bishop.”
As an African American prelate, Bishop Boxie said, “I stand on the shoulders of our ancestors” and said that with his appointment as a bishop, “Pope Leo sent a message of hope and solidarity” to the Black Catholics of the archdiocese.
As part of the celebration, the archdiocesan Gospel Mass choir sang a rousing spiritual — “Total Praise” — that brought many in the congregation and some priest concelebrants to their feet.
Bishop Boxie has chosen “O Lord, Give Me Wisdom” as his episcopal motto.
As they departed the altar, the new bishops offered a blessing, and once again a wave of applause followed their movements as they processed through the basilica, and afterward they went to the basilica’s lower level where they greeted family and friends and well-wishers.
Richard Szczepanowski is managing editor of the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington. This story was originally published by the Catholic Standard and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.
