“You have waited and prayed a long time for this moment.”
Those were the first words Bishop Robert Boxie III spoke after his ordination at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on July 7, 2026. At 45, Boxie became the youngest person ever ordained a bishop in the United States and only the second African American to serve as a U.S. bishop. In his first words as a bishop, he acknowledged generations of Black Catholics whose faith has endured amid a longing for greater inclusion and representation in the Catholic Church.
Yet Boxie’s historic ordination has also been reduced by some to the label “DEI Bishop.” In response to those criticisms, and to offer a fuller picture of what his ordination represents, Boxie recently sat down with the Catholic News Service Podcast, "Vatican Access with Robert Duncan," to discuss his vocation, his ministry and the significance of becoming a bishop.
To understand the significance of Bishop Robert Boxie’s ordination, it is important to first consider the history of Black bishops in the United States and why so few have been ordained. When asked about the reasons behind this history, Boxie responded with a laugh: “How long do we have on this podcast?”
He began by explaining the life of Blessed Father Augustus Tolton, the first African American to become a Catholic priest in the U.S. He described how “for a long time Black men were not accepted or allowed in seminary.” In fact, despite Tolton feeling a true call to the priesthood after escaping slavery in Missouri, and even having the assistance of an Irish priest in applying to “every seminary, every diocese, every religious community in the United States,” no one would accept him because he was Black.
The only option left was for Tolton to enter seminary abroad, leading him to travel to Rome, where he was finally ordained a priest in 1886. Afterwards, he traveled back to the U.S. to live out his calling as a priest.
Though seminaries and religious orders slowly began to accept Black applicants, it took many decades for them to do so, and many were not forced to integrate until the Civil Rights Movement.
However, for Bishop Boxie, this history of discrimination and racism continues to persist and impact seminaries today.
On a personal note, Bishop Boxie recalled a time when he met a seminarian who had a Confederate flag in his room. Seeing it as inappropriate, he refused to enter his room as long as the flag was up. He remarked that, thankfully, after many conversations, “eventually he did take it down.”
Thus, in the midst of a history of intentional exclusion, the ordination of Robert Boxie as auxiliary bishop means more than such contemporary “DEI” comments allow.
However, Bishop Boxie has learned to embrace these claims.
“I do fundamentally believe that even though in my mind, we never feel ready for whatever the Lord calls us to, but I know that he will, he has been providing the grace. The second thing is that we need Black Bishops in the United States. We need the voice of African American bishops, men, in the hierarchy in the Church structure to be more of an advocate for the Black Catholic community, but I don’t think all of them [U.S. bishops] have been sensitive to the concerns of Black people, Black Catholics in the United States…what better way to have a Black Catholic voice than a Black Catholic Bishop?” said Bishop Boxie.
Hence, he shared that he commends Pope Leo XVI’s sensitivity and awareness of the U.S. Black Catholic community, as seen in his recent papal encyclical, Magnifica Humanitias, where he acknowledges the “real indignity and inhumanity of slavery” and apologizes on behalf of the Church for its complicity in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its failure to uphold the dignity of every human person.
“It was really earth shattering. This is the first time in eighteen centuries, nineteen centuries, that this acknowledgment has been made,” said Bishop Boxie.
Thus, in the midst of such claims about DEI and tokenism, Bishop Boxie appreciates how the encyclical encourages dialogue concerning difficult conversations about race in America and racism inside the Church.
At the heart of his ministry as bishop, he hopes that people come to understand the value of diversity within the universality of the Church.
“I really enjoy the gift of Black Catholicism, Black Catholic spirituality, and it certainly does have a place in the universal Church. It really is a gift to the Church. And oftentimes the experiences of Black Catholics has been one of rejection. And sometimes it has been painful and many people feel the experiences of being excluded. Sadly, that has been part of the Black Catholic experience.”
However, in response, the bishop repeated, reminding himself, “This is my Church too.” Speaking reassuringly to Black Catholics, he said, “This is your Church too. The Church wants you here. The Church wants you to be a part of this community.”
Reflecting on his future as bishop, his comments reveal how genuinely invested he is in the well-being of the diverse communities he has served and will now serve as Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, D.C. In his closing statements, Bishop Boxie tearfully stated:
“Look, I love the Church. I’m not going anywhere. This is my Church too. I want to do Church together. I want to do faith together. I want to do the life of Christ together. I want to be saints together. I want to walk in holiness together. I firmly and fundamentally believe that we are not doing this by ourselves. If we think we are, then we have it wrong. So look, I love my faith. I love the church. I’m not always happy with the Church and what the Church has done, but that is no excuse for me to leave and to run. It’s an excuse for me to lean in and to go further. And I want to do that with as many people as I possibly can—bishops, priests, laity, faithful, non-Catholics, whoever wants to do that. That is who I am, that's what I’m about. That’s what the Lord has placed on my heart at this moment.”
The bishop asks the faithful to pray for his ministry to bear much fruit for the Church and for all Black Catholics to pray that he may be a voice on their behalf.
Tamika Royes has 15 years of experience in the social services sector in various roles. She has been a tireless advocate for justice causes, beginning in high school. She has earned a graduate diploma in Catholic studies at Assumption University and is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Theology at Regis St. Michael's Faculty of Theology, University of Toronto.
