Auxiliary Bishops
Bishop Juan R. Esposito-Garcia
Bishop Juan Esposito-Garcia was ordained to the priesthood for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on June 14, 2008. He was born January 10, 1974, in San Luis, Argentina. After obtaining a law degree at the Catholic University of Cuyo in San Luis, Argentina, he came to the United States, where he completed his ecclesiastical studies and earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Moral Theology from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He holds both a licentiate and a Doctorate in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Bishop Esposito’s assignments in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington have included positions as parochial vicar at the Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville, Maryland, at St. Mark the Evangelist in Hyattsville, Maryland, and at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Maryland, and as pro tem parish administrator at Ascension Catholic Church in Bowie, Maryland. He also was adjunct professor of canon law and assistant spiritual director at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary.
Bishop Esposito also served in Archdiocesan roles in the Metropolitan Tribunal, on the Seminary Admission Committee, as an instructor for the Marriage Preparation Program and as a member of the Committee for the Archdiocesan Synod. He has served since 2018 as an official in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops. He speaks English, Spanish and Italian. He is thought to be the first native of Argentina named to be a bishop in the United States.
He was named a Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title of monsignor, in 2020.
Bishop Esposito was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Washington on February 21, 2023 by Cardinal Wilton Gregory at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
Coat of Arms of Bishop Esposito
Explanation
The sun in splendor represents Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, the “sun of justice” with “healing in its wings” (Malachi 3: 20). In heraldry, the straight and wavy rays represent heat and light. The golden sun set against a blue field, with other symbols in silver (white), allude to the flag of Argentina, Bishop Esposito’s native country.
The dove ascending is a symbol of peace; it takes flight in the light of the “sun of justice.” The dove signified to Noah that the flood of God’s wrath had subsided (Genesis 8: 11). The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, was present at the Baptism of the Lord (Matthew 3: 16, etc.). The dove’s silver (white) feathers, its red legs and feet, and the green hillock at the base of the shield, show the colors of the flag of Italy, the land of the Bishop’s ancestors. Yet the red, white, and blue also represent the Bishop’s adopted country.
The crescent is a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary, shown here in the same position as on the arms of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, the local church for which the bishop was ordained a Priest, and of which he is now Auxiliary Bishop.
The fleur de lis is associated with Saint Joseph, who is the spouse of the Blessed Virgin, the foster father of Jesus, and the patron saint and protector of the Church.
The motto, “Beati pacifici,” is from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Saint Matthew: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5: 9).
Videos of Bishop Juan R. Esposito-Garcia
Bishop-Elect Gary R. Studniewski
Bishop-Elect Studniewski was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1957. He received an Army commission through the ROTC program at the University of Toledo in 1979, completing a Bachelor of Education degree in Biology. He served in various artillery assignments in the 82d Airborne Division Artillery, 1980-1981, and then in the 3rd Infantry Division Artillery, United States Army Europe, 1983-1986. From 1987 to 1989 he served in the Army’s Personnel Command in Alexandria, VA while living in Upper Marlboro, MD.
In 1989 Bishop-Elect Studniewski left active duty to study for the Catholic priesthood, co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. His formation for the priesthood took place at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, 1990 – 1995. His theological education includes both a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. He was ordained a priest of Washington in 1995 and served as Parochial Vicar at St. John’s Church in Hollywood, MD. He received the Monsignor William Awalt Award for Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Washington in 1997.
In 1998 Bishop-Elect Studniewski re-entered active Army service as a chaplain. He served as the 82nd Airborne Division Support Command Chaplain from 1998 – 2000, the Task Force Chaplain for the Multinational Force and Observers, Sinai, Egypt in 2001, and the Deputy Installation Chaplain at Fort Belvoir, VA, 2002 – 2005. In May 2005, he was reassigned to the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Personnel Directorate, at the Pentagon. He arrived at Fort Lewis, WA, in June 2008, and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the Brigade Chaplain with the 555th Engineer Brigade. He became the Joint Base Garrison Chaplain at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in February 2010. In July 2012, Chaplain Studniewski was assigned as the Command Chaplain for U.S. Army North (5th Army) at Fort Sam Houston, TX. His last Army assignment was as Command Chaplain, Joint Forces Headquarters-National Capitol Region/Military District of Washington, 2014 – 2016.
Bishop-Elect Studniewski graduated from multiple Army schools and staff colleges throughout his military career, culminating in obtaining a Masters in Strategic Studies at the U.S. Army War College, Department of Distance Education, 2014. He retired from the Army at the rank of Colonel in July 2016.
Bishop-Elect Studniewski returned to the Archdiocese of Washington in November, 2016, and was assigned as Temporary Administrator at St. Francis Xavier Church, Newtowne, MD, before assuming his pastoral responsibilities as Administrator, St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill in January 2017. Father Studniewski was named pastor of St. Peter’s in 2018. He assumed his current position as pastor of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in July 2022.
Bishop-Elect Studniewski is a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights of Columbus, 4th Degree. He served as the dean of the Northwest-West deanery of the archdiocese and on the Priest Council, as well as the spiritual advisor to the Cursillo Movement of the archdiocese.
Bishop-Elect Studniewski will be ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of Washington on July 7, 2026 by Cardinal Robert McElroy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Coat of Arms of Bishop-Elect Studniewski
Explanation
The cock or rooster is a symbol both of religious fidelity and soldierly courage. Its wakefulness, watchful care over his flock, and crowing at the dawn of each new day makes it a symbol of light over darkness and the triumph of life over death. It is a symbol of Christ Himself, the One whose coming brought the true light of the world and the One in whose resurrection we have our hope. It is a symbol also of the Church’s responsibility to proclaim the new era of grace and forgiveness to a darkened world. It has been associated with the repentance of Saint Peter and his resolution to always be ready to give an account of his faith. The rooster is also a symbol in the Cursillo movement, so pivotal in the faith life of the Bishop through a personal encounter with Christ and the Church, that emphasizes personal spiritual development and presents to disciples of Christ how to become effective Christian leaders in the world.
On the dexter side (the viewer’s left) are three six-pointed stars in silver, adapted from the coat of arms of Pope Pius VI, the Holy Father both when independence was declared in 1776 and when he established the American hierarchy by appointing Bishop John Carroll as the Bishop of Baltimore in 1789. On the sinister side (the viewer’s right) are three five-pointed stars in silver, adapted from the coat of arms of George Washington. Both sets of stars are taken from the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Washington.
The chief, or upper portion of the shield, shows an eagle holding olive branches, all in silver. It is based on the eagle on the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of the Military Services, under which the Bishop served as a chaplain in the United States Army. It also resembles the insignia of a full colonel, the rank at which the Bishop retired after many years of service as both an airborne artillery officer and chaplain. The elements and colors call to mind a distinctly American heraldic style.
The Bishop’s motto, SUFFICIT TIBI GRATIA MEA, “My grace is sufficient for you,” is from II Corinthians 12: 9. The coat of arms was devised by Bishop-Elect Studniewski with the advice and assistance of Very Rev. George E. Stuart, Ms. Georgina Wilkinson, and Ms. Megan Novak.
Bishop-Elect Robert Boxie III
Bishop-Elect Robert P. Boxie, III was born in 1980 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, with a degree in chemical engineering and a second major in music, he worked in France for a year teaching English as a high school language assistant. Upon returning to the United States, he studied at Harvard Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2007. As an attorney, he served as a law clerk at the federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland and then as an associate at a law firm in Washington, D.C.
After much prayer and discernment, he entered seminary for the Archdiocese of Washington. As a seminarian, he studied at Theological College at The Catholic University of America as well as the Pontifical North American College and Gregorian University, both in Rome, earning a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 2015 and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 2017.
On June 25, 2016, Bishop-Elect Boxie was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal Donald Wuerl. He served as a parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Derwood, Maryland in the summer of 2016 then as parochial vicar at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Largo, Maryland from 2017-2020. From 2020-2026, Bishop-Elect Boxie served as the Catholic chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in Washington, DC, with residence at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Washington, DC. In addition to his pastoral duties, Bishop-Elect Boxie has served the Archdiocese of Washington as an assistant vocations director since 2018 and a professor in the permanent diaconate program since 2018.
Bishop-Elect Boxie will be ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of Washington on July 7, 2026 by Cardinal Robert McElroy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Coat of Arms of Bishop-Elect Boxie
Explanation
The “pelican in her piety” is not the pelican of nature, but a mythic creature found in Christian art. The ancient legend is that a mother pelican that lacked food for her young would pluck bits of flesh from her own breast to feed them. The drops of blood are symbolic of the Eucharistic self-sacrifice of Our Lord, but they also allude to His Sacred Heart. The Bishop is a native of State of Louisiana, which displays the pelican in her piety on its seal and flag, and his home parish is Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Lake Charles.
The chief, or upper portion of the shield, shows a silver crescent, a symbol of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary seen on the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Washington.
To either side of the crescent are tables of the law in gold, to acknowledge both the Bishop’s civil legal background as well as his life under the twofold Gospel law of love of God and love of neighbor.
The red field of the chief is the color of the Holy Spirit, who, with the Blessed Virgin as our intercessor, guides Christian followers of the law of love.
The colors of the shield—red, black, and green—refer to the Bishop’s African American heritage.
The Bishop’s motto, Domine, da mihi sapientiam, “O Lord, give me wisdom,” is based on Wisdom 9 and 1 Kings 3.
The coat of arms was devised by Bishop-Elect Boxie with the advice and assistance of Very Rev. George E.Stuart, Ms. Georgina Wilkinson, and Ms. Megan Novak.