Fr Robert Boxie III, a chaplain at Howard University, has been named an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Washington, marking the first appointment of a new African-American Catholic prelate in nearly a decade. It is also the first such move by Pope Leo XIV, whose family shares Boxie’s Louisiana roots.
Boxie is effectively succeeding Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., a Black prelate who has served in the episcopate since 2017; his retirement was also announced on Friday. Boxie, 45, will likely be the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States, and one of the youngest in the world.
“He has a priestly heart and keen intelligence,” said Cardinal Robert McElroy, Archbishop of Washington, “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.”
Pope Leo XIV Appoints Two New Auxiliary Bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington; Accepts Resignation of Most Reverend Roy Campbell | Read the full release at: https://t.co/ao6KhB44hd pic.twitter.com/XMTmpxEq3e
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) May 1, 2026
Born in 1980 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Boxie is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he studied chemical engineering and music, and Harvard Law School, where he earned a juris doctor in 2007. He practiced as an attorney in the Washington metropolitan area—including service as a clerk to a federal judge—before answering a call to the priesthood, entering seminary for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2010.
After studies at the Catholic University of America’s Theological College in Washington and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Boxie was ordained to the priesthood in 2016. His second assignment was under Bishop Campbell, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Largo, Maryland, who served as a ministry mentor for the young priest.
After three years in Maryland, Boxie was appointed in 2020 as the Catholic chaplain to Howard University, one of the region’s HBCUs. The move reinvigorated the Church’s ministry at the school, which had been without a full-time priest for some time. Boxie helped guide the Newman Center, HU Bison Catholic, through the pandemic, grew its ministry footprint on campus, and in 2023 inaugurated the Sr Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center—its first dedicated gathering space in decades. In 2024, the ministry hosted its first-ever fundraising gala, raising more than $35,000.
Outside of Howard, Boxie is an assistant vocations director for the Washington Archdiocese and a professor in the permanent diaconate program. He is also a member of the board of trustees for the Catholic University of America and a member of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.
Now a bishop-elect, Boxie is set to become the latest African-American Catholic prelate for the Washington Archdiocese, which has had a largely uninterrupted tradition of such appointments since 1974. Campbell, now bishop emeritus at age 78, served beyond the normal episcopal retirement age by three and a half years.
Upon his consecration, the date of which is yet to be announced, Boxie will likely be one of just two active African-American Catholic bishops and one of the nation’s five active Black bishops overall.
A livestreamed press conference announcing his appointment is scheduled for this morning at 10am ET.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
