Roy Edward Campbell Jr. (born November 19, 1947) is an
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
prelate of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
who has served as an
auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions.
...
for the
Archdiocese of Washington
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
since 2017.
Biography
Priesthood
Roy Campbell was born on November 19, 1947, in
Pomonkey, Maryland, to Roy Edward Campbell, Sr. and Julia Ann (Chesley) Campbell. He has three brothers and two sisters. Roy Campbell attended Bruce Elementary Public School and then Shrine of the Sacred Heart School. Campbell graduated from
Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington in 1965.
After high school, Campbell entered
Howard University
Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
in Washington. He was award a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology, with minor concentrations in chemistry and anthropology. After college, Campbell worked as a
bank teller
A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. T ...
at Suburban Trust Company in Maryland to finance his
graduate school
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...
studies. He received a Master of Arts degree in
retail banking
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking (corporate ...
from the
McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1992.
Campbell worked in banking until his retirement in 2002. Having decided at that point to become a priest, he entered the
Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary
Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary (formerly Blessed John XXIII National Seminary) is a Roman Catholic seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. It offers a graduate-level program designed for priesthood candidates aged 30 and above, often called "s ...
in Weston, Massachusetts, in 2003. He was awarded a
Master of Divinity
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...
degree in 2007.
Priesthood
On May 26, 2007, Campbell was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal
Donald Wuerl
Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Washington from 2006 to 2018. He previously served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle (1986 to 1987) and Bishop of Pit ...
.
Former Cardinal
Theodore McCarrick
Theodore Edgar McCarrick (July 7, 1930 – April 3, 2025) was an American Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal who was Archbishop of Newark from 1986 to 2000 and Archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006. In 2019, McCarrick was defrocked by Po ...
provided Campbell with an exemption for his age. After his 2007 ordination, the archdiocese assigned Campbell as
parochial vicar at St. Augustine Parish in Washington.
In 2008, Campbell was appointed pastor of Assumption Parish in Washington, then moved in 2010 to serve as pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in
Largo, Maryland
Largo () is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,605 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
Largo is located just ...
.
Auxiliary Bishop of Washington
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
appointed Campbell as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of
Washington on March 8, 2017.
On April 21, 2017, Campbell was consecrated as a bishop by Cardinal Wuerl at the
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, with Bishops
Martin Holley and
Barry Knestout serving as co-consecrators.
Campbell's episcopal
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
contains a lion derived from McCarrick's coat of arms and a tower derived from Wuerl's coat of arms.
On March 21, 2019, Campbell was elected president of the
National Black Catholic Congress
The National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) is a Black Catholic advocacy group and quinquennial conference in the United States. It is a spiritual successor to Daniel Rudd's Colored Catholic Congress movement of the late 19th and early 20th cen ...
(NBCC), succeeding Bishop
John Ricard.
See also
*
Catholic Church hierarchy
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , t ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
*
List of Catholic bishops of the United States
*
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops.
Lists
Catholic
* Bishops in the Catholic Chu ...
References
External links
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Official Site
Episcopal succession
1947 births
Living people
People from Charles County, Maryland
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
Catholics from Maryland
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
African-American Roman Catholic bishops
21st-century American Roman Catholic bishops
Bishops appointed by Pope Francis
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