“The short answer is racism,” he stated when directly asked about the issue during an interview with Vatican Access, from Catholic News Service.
The prelate’s claim, however, leaves out a fundamental fact when explaining the composition of the episcopate: bishops are chosen from among priests, and African Americans make up a very small proportion of American priestly vocations.
Boxie was appointed auxiliary bishop of Washington by Leo XIV on May 1 and ordained bishop on July 7. Born in 1980, he studied Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt University and Law at Harvard before working as a lawyer and later entering the seminary.
“The short answer is racism”
Boxie maintained that for a long time Black men were not admitted to seminaries, dioceses, and religious communities in the United States, and that when they began to be accepted, some faced discrimination.
As an example, he recalled the Venerable Augustus Tolton, born into slavery in Missouri, who had to travel to Rome to train as a priest after no American seminary would admit him because he was Black.
The auxiliary bishop of Washington believes that history continues to have consequences today. According to him, African American families still remember a time when their children could be treated “as second-class citizens” within Catholic institutions.
This is a real past of discrimination that the U.S. Church has acknowledged and that helps explain part of the history of Black Catholicism in the country. But recognizing that past does not automatically turn the current racial composition of the episcopate into evidence of present-day discrimination.
The USCCB itself currently counts five “bishops of color” in active service in the United States: Robert Boxie, Simon Peter Engurait, Jacques Fabre, Shelton Fabre, and Jerome Feudjio. However, its Subcommittee on African American Affairs identifies only Shelton Fabre and Robert Boxie as active African American bishops.
What the data show
Catholic News Service puts the figure in perspective: Blacks represent about 5% of U.S. Catholics, and five of the country’s 268 active bishops are Black, though only two are African American.
The disproportion exists. But it also exists at the level immediately before the episcopate.
The national study on men ordained priests in 2025, prepared by CARA for the USCCB, shows that 69% of the ordinands were White, 12% Hispanic or Latino, another 12% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 6% Black or African American. That last percentage represents growth compared to previous years: over the past two decades, the average number of Black or African American ordinands was only 2%.
Attributing the shortage of African American bishops to racism without further analysis leaves an earlier question unanswered: if bishops come from the presbyterate, how many African American priests are there among the candidates from which Rome can choose?
“We need Black bishops”
Boxie did not limit himself to explaining the situation through historical discrimination. He also openly advocated for greater racial representation within the hierarchy.
“We need Black bishops in the United States,” he said. In his view, there is a need for “men in the hierarchy, in the structure of the Church” who can better defend the African American Catholic community.
The prelate acknowledged that there are “many good bishops” in the United States and that he believes they try to do their job well, but he maintained that not all have been sufficiently sensitive to the concerns of Blacks and, particularly, of Black Catholics.
Boxie went even further in interpreting the intentions behind episcopal appointments: “I think the Pope has realized that this voice needs to be at the table. And what better way to have a Black Catholic voice than a Black Catholic bishop?”
An episcopate in terms of racial representation
Boxie himself clarified that he is “a bishop for all,” although he immediately claimed that, because of his experience, he has something specific to contribute about Black Catholics that a White, Hispanic, or Asian bishop might not be able to express “with particular authority.”
But the Catholic episcopate does not operate on a system of demographic representation. A bishop is not elected to represent a race or social group electorally, but to shepherd the Church entrusted to him.
A specific cultural experience can naturally help a pastor better understand part of his faithful. Another matter is turning the racial proportion within the episcopate into an indicator of justice or injustice within the Church.
When Leo XIV appointed him, the Archdiocese of Washington itself highlighted precisely his pastoral trajectory. Cardinal Robert McElroy presented both Boxie and the also-appointed Gary Studniewski as “exemplary leaders” who would bring wisdom, counsel, and priestly service to the entire people of God in the archdiocese.
DEI: “biblical” concepts even if they have been “hijacked”
Boxie also addressed policies of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which have become one of the major cultural battlegrounds in the United States.
The auxiliary bishop of Washington admitted that DEI “has become too political” and “too polarized,” to the point of considering that the concept has been “hijacked.”
However, he distinguished between the specific policies grouped under those initials and the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion, which he considers compatible with Catholicism and “biblical.”
A Confederate flag in the seminary
Boxie also recounted a personal experience to explain why he believes the racial issue remains present within the U.S. Church.
When he arrived at the seminary, the roommate next door had a Confederate flag hanging on the wall. Boxie said he was “completely taken aback” and decided he would not enter that room while it remained there.
They spoke several times about the matter until the seminarian removed the flag. Years later, during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020, the former roommate—who had already left the seminary—contacted Boxie to apologize.
The now-bishop accepted his apologies. According to him, they had a conversation about race, the Church, and the need to become “healers” and “bridge builders.”
Boxie’s personal experience and the history of discrimination faced by Black Catholics in the United States do not need to be denied in order to critically examine his thesis. One thing is to recognize that racial barriers existed—and still exist—and another is to conclude that racism by itself explains why today there are only two active African American bishops.
The data introduce a variable that Boxie’s response barely considers. Over the past twenty years, African Americans have accounted for an average of around 2% of those ordained priests in the United States.