05/01/2026
Congratulations to Bishop-elect Robert P. Boxie, III
Excerpts From the Catholic Standard:
Pope Leo XIV on May 1, 2026 named 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, as a new auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
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.”
