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 to the Order of Bishops July 7 as auxiliary bishops of the Roman Catholic 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 by our Holy Father, Pope Leo in appointing Bishop Boxie and Bishop Studniewski 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.”
About 2,500 people attending the nearly three-hour bilingual liturgy at the National Shrine 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 of the new bishops were Cardinal Wilton Gregory, an archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Washington, and Bishop Mark Brennan, the recently retired bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, who formerly served as vocations director of the Archdiocese of Washington and who 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 Wuerl, an archbishop emeritus of Washington; Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the Vatican’s new apostolic nuncio to the United States; Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, a former auxiliary bishop of Washington; Bishop Barry Knestout, a former auxiliary bishop of this archdiocese who now serves as the bishop of Richmond, Virginia; Bishop William D. Byrne, a former priest of this archdiocese who now serves as the bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts; Bishop Evelio Menjívar-Ayala, a former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington who was recently installed as the bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia; Washington Auxiliary Bishop Juan Esposito, who also serves as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Washington; and Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., whose resignation from the office of auxiliary bishop of Washington was accepted by Pope Leo XIV on May 1.
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,” Cardinal McElroy said. “You heard the loving call of God to the priesthood amidst careers in which you were deeply embedded.”
Prior to the episcopal ordinations, the congregation invoked the intercession of the Holy Spirit. Archbishop Caccia read the individual papal mandates in which Pope Leo appointed Bishops Studniewski and Boxie as auxiliary bishops of Washington.
The nuncio said, “I share in the joy” of the Archdiocese of Washington in its two new auxiliary bishops, and as the pope’s personal representative to the United States, offered “the greeting, affection and blessing of Pope Leo.”
“Each of you have followed the Lord along a distinctive path of service … may the Lord bless each of you,” Archbishop Caccia told the new bishops prior to reading the papal mandates, and he urged Bishops Studniewski and Boxie to “always walk in faith, hope and love.”
When the faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington were asked to give their consent to the appointment of their new auxiliary bishops, the congregation in the National Shrine responded with a long and hearty ovation. The new bishops then processed through the basilica, showing their papal mandates to those assembled there as more applause cascaded as the bishops passed by.
Before ordaining them as bishops, Cardinal McElroy asked the bishops-elect 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.”
Bishop Studniewski and Bishop Boxie promised that they would do so.
“The footprints of grace you have left during your priestly ministry are deep and enduring.” Cardinal McElroy told the new bishops. “It is these footprints of grace that have led our Holy Father Pope Leo to call you to the episcopate and to a new pathway to your earthly pilgrimage on this life ahead.”
He called their new ministry a “vital mission of leadership, sacrifice and profound faith” and told the bishops the episcopate “can be a pathway to joy.”
Among the “central joys in the life of a bishop,” Cardinal McElroy said “the most foundational joy of a bishop lies in the prayers that are offered him by literally thousands of women and men throughout the archdiocese” because it reminds the bishop that he never walks alone.
Those prayers of the faithful, he said, are “humbling, touching and consoling… (and) in moments of hardship and struggle will sustain you.”
The cardinal told Bishop Studniewski and Bishop Boxie that “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.”
Meeting diverse Catholic communities, Cardinal McElroy told the new bishops, “will enflame your hearts with the magnificence of the universal call to holiness as it is lived in every culture.”
Calling them successors of the Apostles, the cardinal told the new bishops their ministry will include “an expansive role in embracing and advancing the whole sacramental life of the Church,” including ordinations of new priests and Confirmations of the faithful.
“In these beautiful celebrations, the face of God will be deeply imprinted on their (the faithful’s) hearts,” Cardinal McElroy said, “and the faith of the people will be imprinted more deeply on their souls.”
He told Bishop Studniewski and Bishop Boxie that in their new role as bishops they have “both a particular freedom and a searing obligation” to proclaim the faith and to serve as a “witness to the injustices that corrupt our world.”
He reminded the bishops they are “called to be an evangelizing presence in the life of the world,” and promised them they “will find joy in uniting yourselves to the words and actions of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.”
The episcopal ordinations of the new bishops included prayers, chanting of the Litany of Supplication, the laying on of hands and anointing with chrism.
“Grant, O Father, knower of all hearts, that these your servants whom you have chosen for the episcopate may nourish your holy flock and may without reproach exercise before you the High Priesthood, serving you night and day; that they may unceasingly cause your face to shine upon us and offer the gifts of your holy Church,” Cardinal McElroy prayed.
During the Mass, the cardinal also prayed that new bishops would “carry out worthily” their new responsibilities and “direct by word and example the people entrusted to their care.”
As part of their episcopal ordinations, Bishops Studniewski and Boxie received the symbols of their office – the Book of the Gospels, which represents their responsibility to preach “with all patience and sound teaching;” a ring, signifying their fidelity to the Church; a miter that represents the “unfading crown of glory” they will seek by serving Christ; and crozier (pastoral staff) representing their role as spiritual shepherds.
After Communion, the new bishops walked through the cathedral, holding their shepherd’s staffs 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 National Shrine.
Moments later, the new bishops directly addressed the faithful.
“That was so much fun. Can we do it one more time?” Bishop Studniewski quipped after processing through the basilica and offering his blessing to the people.
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 United States 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 military chaplaincy, the future bishop served as pastor of both Saint Peter's Parish on Capitol Hill and the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington, D.C. He thanked the members of both those parishes for helping to form him as a priest.
Looking at the diverse crowd gathered in the basilica, 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.
Of his being named a bishop, Bishop Studniewski said, “I confess I do not understand God’s design.” 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.
Also speaking to the faithful at the end of the Mass, 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, D.C. to clerk for a federal judge and then worked in a law firm after graduating from Vanderbilt University and Harvard Law School.
Bishop Boxie was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2016 and first served as a parochial vicar at Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Derwood, Maryland, and then at Saint 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 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.
Speaking directly to Howard University students who attended the Mass, Bishop Boxie said, “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 of Washington.
As part of the celebration, the Archdiocese of Washington 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 National Shrine, and afterward they went to the basilica's lower level where they greeted family and friends and well-wishers.
