Having led the San Diego diocese since 2015, McElroy, 70, has experience with immigration, both as a political issue and a reality in his diocesan churches.

This morning Pope Francis announced that he has accepted my resignation as Archbishop of Washington and has named as my successor Robert Cardinal McElroy, until now the Bishop of San Diego. I receive this news with many emotions;

Robert McElroy, 70, is expected to be named to the high-profile Roman Catholic post in the nation's capital, according to the National Catholic Reporter, followed by other sources.