Written by Charlene Howard
Pax Christi USA Executive Director
Excitement filled the air as my husband and I joined more than 2,500 people in the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC on July 7. For the first time in a long time, two local men – Robert Boxie, III and Gary Studniewski – were elevated to the order of bishop. At age 45, Bishop Boxie is now the youngest bishop currently serving in the United States. [It is interesting to note that Cardinal Wilton Gregory, retired ordinary of the Archdiocese of Washington, was 35 years old when he was named an auxiliary bishop for Chicago in 1983, making him the youngest bishop at that time.] Even more significantly, Bishop Boxie’s elevation is the first African American named bishop in nearly a decade; he is now one of the two remaining African American bishops who are actively serving in our country.
Bishop Boxie, a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, graduated from Vanderbilt University and Harvard Law School, and then moved to Washington DC where he clerked for a federal judge and then worked in a law firm. In 2016 he was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington and served as a parochial vicar at several parishes. Since 2020, Bishop Boxie has been the Catholic chaplain for Howard University, an historically Black university, where he led the building of a chapel for the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center there. Through his efforts, Howard University has a thriving Catholic community which encourages young adults to keep the faith and be a Catholic witness both on campus and in the Church.
In his new appointment, Bishop Boxie will serve as the archdiocese’s vicar for cultural communities and synodality. During the elevation service on July 7, he initiated his new role by addressing the French- and Spanish-speaking members of the Catholic community in their own languages, pledging to work with them and be a support to them.
He also directly addressed the African American community: “You have waited and prayed a long time for this moment.” Since the ordination of Bishop Harold Perry, who was consecrated as the first African American auxiliary bishop for New Orleans on January 6, 1966, only 21 African American men have been appointed as bishops to serve the people of God throughout the United States, nine of whom were ordained in the 1980s. Since that time, appointments have declined, bishops have retired or died, leaving Black Catholics in this country with limited leadership that reflects our culture, needs and spirituality. Bishop Boxie is a sign of hope to my community that the Church has not forgotten about us. In his remarks he went on to say to the Black Catholic community: “I humbly accept this role on your behalf standing on the shoulders of our ancestors and giants in the faith — Fr. Augustus Tolton, Sr. Thea Bowman, Bishop Harold Perry, Bishop Leonard Olivier — who made this day possible. I’m grateful to Pope Leo who sends a message of hope and solidarity as one of us who is with us on this historic appointment … ushering in, in this historic appointment, a new evangelization in our community.”
In the coming months Pax Christi USA hopes to meet with Cardinal McElroy and his newly appointed auxiliaries, Bishop Boxie and Bishop Studniewski, to acquaint them with our work, and to establish a collaborative relationship with them so that we can work together to extend Pope Leo’s messages of peace and nonviolence in the nation’s capital.