Conservatives Attack Pope Leo XIV’s Newest Black Bishop, Robert Boxie, for Calling Out Racism

Pope Leo made Robert Boxie the first African American bishop ordained in the U.S. in nearly a decade. Within hours, Calvin Robinson and a swarm of accounts turned on him — and some began defending the Confederate flag.

Bishop Robert Boxie holds up Pope Leo XIV’s mandate after his ordination as an auxiliary bishop of Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on July 7, 2026 — the first African American bishop ordained in the United States in nearly a decade. (Archdiocese of Washington)

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