Pope Leo has just appointed a Black Trump critic as the youngest bishop in America. And he is sending him to Washington, D.C.
Reverend Robert Boxie III, 41, was named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington this week. He is now the youngest currently serving bishop in the United States. The appointment was announced by Pope Leo XIV himself.
The location matters. The timing matters too.
Boxie has already spoken clearly. In an interview with Catholic Review, he said: “It’s really frustrating, especially this moment that we’re living in. The attacks on DEI, I don’t even know what that means anymore. It’s a term that’s been hijacked. We are a diverse nation with people from all over the world. Diversity is a good thing. Diversity is of God. So much of our history has been exclusive, especially when it comes to race. And it’s just un-American; it’s un-Christian; it’s anti-Catholic.”
This is Pope Leo’s third major move involving U.S. policy this month.
He said warmakers have “hands full of blood.” He welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky to the Vatican without inviting Trump. Now he has appointed an outspoken Black critic of the administration to the diocese that includes the White House. In the same week the Supreme Court weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In the same week Trump’s DOJ indicted James Comey over a photo of seashells on a beach.
The Archdiocese of Washington serves 670,000 Catholics. Sitting in those pews are men like Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Tom Homan, and about a third of the Supreme Court.
Pope Leo has placed a man who calls anti-DEI policies “un-Christian” in their pulpit.
Boxie was ordained in 2018. He has served as Catholic chaplain at Howard University. He has worked with people experiencing homelessness, incarcerated people, and immigrant communities. The Catholic Standard described his ministry as being “centered on those most often pushed to the margins.”
This is the response to the divine-light AI image Trump posted of himself. This is the response to the phrase “hands full of blood.” The Pope is not posting online. He is making appointments.
Trump and Hegseth are going to hate it.
That is the point.
