Only 2 1/2 years after being named a cardinal, a top San Diego spiritual leader is headed to Washington, D.C., as archbishop, the Vatican announced early Monday.

McElroy, known for a pastoral approach to migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, will lead an archdiocese still bruised by a sexual abuse and mismanagement scandal.

Cardinal Walter McElroy of San Diego is named by Pope Francis to replace the retiring Cardinal Wilton Gregory leading the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

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.

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.

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego as the archbishop of Washington, D.C. He is tapping one of his most progressively like-minded allies to head the Catholic Church in the U.S.

Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, a vocal defender of migrants and critic of Donald Trump’s first administration, as the next archbishop of Washington, DC.

Pope Francis’s appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the highly visible prelate of the church in Washington is already being interpreted as a shot across the bow of the Trump administration, given the new archbishop’s outspoken views on immigrants’ rights.