Pope Leo XIV on May 1, 2026 named two local priests as new auxiliary bishops for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington – Father Gary Studniewski, who is currently serving as pastor of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Washington, D.C., and Father Robert Boxie III, who is currently serving as the Catholic chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in Washington.
Also on May 1, Pope Leo appointed Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar as the new bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which serves the entire state of West Virginia; and the pope accepted the resignation of Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., who is retiring. Bishop Campbell, who is now 78, as required by canon law had submitted his resignation to the pope in 2022 when he turned 75.
Bishop-Elect Studniewski and Bishop-Elect Boxie will join Auxiliary Bishop Juan Esposito in serving the Archdiocese of Washington alongside Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the archbishop. The Archdiocese of Washington includes the nation’s capital and the five surrounding Maryland counties.
In a letter to priests about the pope’s appointment of Washington’s two new auxiliary bishops, Cardinal McElroy said, “Both are exemplary leaders in our local church, and they will provide great wisdom, counsel and collaboration to me and selfless priestly service to the entire people of God” in the Archdiocese of Washington.
The cardinal said Bishop-Elect Studniewski “brings an immensely rich and varied life of accomplishment and service to his new role in the Church.”
Before being ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA in 1995, Bishop-Elect Studniewski had served as a captain in the U.S. Army. After his ordination, the native of Toledo, Ohio served as a parochial vicar at St. John Francis Regis Parish in Hollywood, Maryland, before beginning an 18-year stint as an Army chaplain, achieving the rank of colonel. He left the chaplaincy in 2014 with the rank of colonel.
After serving as the administrator of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Newtowne, Maryland, then-Father Studniewski was appointed as the administrator and then pastor of St. Peter’s Parish on Capitol Hill from 2017 to 2022, and since then he has served as pastor of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Parish. Bishop-Elect Studniewski will turn 69 on May 8.
In a 2020 interview marking his 25th anniversary as a priest, then-Father Studniewski said, “It’s a beautiful thing to be able to enter into the lives of people, to bring Christ to people and people to Christ.”
Praising Bishop-Elect Studniewski’s service as a priest, Cardinal McElroy said, “As a dean, member of the presbyteral council and mentor to our newly ordained, he has shown the Christ-like love and priestliness that are emblematic of our presbyterate. In each of these roles, he has demonstrated profound faith, collaborative leadership, pastoral sensitivity, initiative and zeal, making him an ideal candidate for the episcopacy.”
Bishop-Elect Boxie, a 45-year-old native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, entered the seminary after earning a degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and a degree from Harvard Law School. Before his ordination as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington 10 years ago in 2016, he said he hoped to have an impact on young people, to help them “excel in what they do, and to see the world as an opportunity to discover who you are and what God has in store for you.”
Serving as the Catholic chaplain at Howard University in Washington since 2020, Bishop-Elect Boxie has had the opportunity to do that, and Cardinal McElroy praised his ministry at the university, saying “he has deeply enhanced the ministry and community there, while building a chapel and dramatically renewing the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center.”
The cardinal noted that in then-Father Boxie’s first assignment as a parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish in Largo, Maryland, he served “under the tutelage of Bishop Roy Campbell, who was a wonderful mentor to him.” Bishop Campbell has served as the longtime pastor there.
In addition to serving as a parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish from 2017 t0 2020, Father Boxie served as a parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Derwood, Maryland in 2016. Since 2016, he has served as an assistant vocations director for the Archdiocese of Washington.
Praising Bishop-Elect Boxie, Cardinal McElroy said, “He has a priestly heart and keen intelligence, as well as the prayerful compassion and evangelizing core that will be a great gift to our local church in deepening our outreach to all and helping particularly to enrich our Black communities.”
Noting Pope Leo’s appointment of Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar as the new bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, Cardinal McElroy said, “All of you understand how great a loss this is for the Archdiocese. Bishop Menjivar's pastoral love and zeal, as well as his passion for justice and sensitive care for the Hispanic and immigrant communities of our Archdiocese have planted seeds of grace that will yield a harvest here for decades to come. Our consolation is that the people of West Virginia will have a splendid new bishop to continue the work that Bishop Brennan has undertaken there, and for that we give thanks.”
On May 1, Pope Leo XIV announced that he had accepted the resignation of Bishop Mark E. Brennan, 79, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Bishop Brennan, a former priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, had led the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston since 2019.
When Bishop Menjivar was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Washington in 2023, he became the first bishop of the United States who was born in El Salvador. A native of Chalatenango, El Salvador, he migrated to the United States in 1990.
In 2024 when he received an honorary doctorate from Georgetown University, Bishop Menjivar reflected on his journey as an immigrant.
“In 1990, I arrived in Los Angeles, California with only a change of clothes in a backpack, but full of dreams,” Bishop Menjivar told the graduates. “As most immigrants do, I did any kind of job I could get: receptionist, construction, janitorial work, painting, youth ministry. Meanwhile, I took English classes at night, and I also studied for the high school equivalency degree.”
After entering the seminary, he studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and was ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 2004. During his years as a priest of the archdiocese, then-Father Menjivar served as a parochial vicar at Mother Seton Parish in Germantown, St. Bartholomew Parish in Bethesda, and at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington; and as the pastor of Our Lady Queen of the Americas Parish in Washington and St. Mary’s Parish in Landover Hills. Throughout his ministry, he has actively supported workers and promoted social justice for immigrants.
Also in his letter to priests, Cardinal McElroy noted that Pope Leo announced that he had accepted the resignation of Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr.
“To Bishop Campbell, who has so magnificently served as pastor and shepherd within our local church, our only words must be thanks. It was a great gift to the Archdiocese that God called Bishop Campbell from his life as a successful banking executive to enter the pathway to the priesthood and ultimately the episcopate,” the cardinal said.
Bishop Campbell, a lifelong member of the Archdiocese of Washington, was baptized at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Indian Head, Maryland, and graduated from Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington before studying at Howard University. After retiring from the retail banking industry in the Washington and Baltimore area in 2002, he was ordained as a priest for the archdiocese in 2007. Following his ordination, he served as a parochial vicar at St. Augustine Parish in Washington. Then-Father Campbell was appointed as the pastor of Assumption Parish in Washington in 2007 and then as the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Largo in 2010.
In 2017, Bishop Campbell was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Washington. In recent years in addition to continuing to serve as the pastor of St. Joseph Parish, he has also served as the president of the National Black Catholic Congress.
Praising Bishop Campbell, the cardinal noted, “His wisdom, prudence, and love for Our Lord and Our Lady, combined with a keen mind for administration and a caring heart for the poor and the marginalized to provide for us a magnificent leader for the life of our Archdiocese. And his particular care for the Black communities of our Archdiocese is an immense grace to our local church.”
Cardinal McElroy said Bishop Campbell would continue serving as the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Largo until July. “It is a fitting tribute to him that Bishop-Elect Boxie, whom Bishop Campbell formed in his first assignment, now has been appointed a bishop on the same day that Bishop Campbell retires as auxiliary bishop,” the cardinal said.
A date has not yet been announced for the ordination of Washington’s two new auxiliary bishops, Bishop-Elect Studniewski and Bishop-Elect Boxie. They will be introduced at a May 1 press conference.
Link to text of Cardinal McElroy's letter on Pope Leo XIV's appointment of two new auxiliary bishops for Washington:
https://www.cathstan.org/voice...
