Pope Francis on Monday named a Catholic cardinal who has criticized Donald Trump's political agenda as the new leader for the Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., days before Trump is set to be inaugurated as U.

The appointment of Robert W. McElroy is a signal of the pope’s priorities, two weeks before Donald J. Trump’s term begins.

ROME — Pope Francis on Monday named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego as the archbishop of Washington, tapping one of his most progressively like-minded allies to head the Catholic Church in the U.S. capital at the start of Donald Trump ’s second administration.

The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis appointed Cardinal McElroy, 70, as archbishop of Washington, a high-profile see that includes about 667,000 Catholics in the District of Columbia and five counties in southern Maryland.

Outspokenly progressive, Cardinal McElroy is now poised to take over the ecclesiastical territory of the nation’s capital just as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term as president of the United States.

During Trump's first administration, Cardinal McElroy sharply criticised his plan to launch a mass deportation campaign targeting millions of immigrants living in the United States.

Pope Francis has named like-minded San Francisco native Cardinal Robert McElroy as the archbishop of Washington, D.C.

Francis’ liberal pick for Washington, D.C. archbishop is at odds with Trump’s choice for ambassador to the Vatican, Brian Burch, a vocal Francis critic.

Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy as Archbishop of Washington. This choice carries undeniable political weight, reflecting the profound opposition between the Californian cleric and the incoming Republican President Donald Trump.

In his annual speech to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis condemned what he said was a universal growth in fake news, pointing to United States President-elect Donald Trump as a victim.

Pope Francis has told ambassadors accredited to the Holy See that he wasn’t up to delivering his annual foreign policy speech and asked an aide to deliver it instead.