Source: The Washington Post

On January 8, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "newly installed Roman Catholic Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick delivered a message of inclusion yesterday to a congregation jammed with immigrants -- and asked for their prayers as a newcomer himself." McCarrick was the archbishop of Newark for 14 years, where he worked for social justice and especially to welcome immigrants. He is now serving the Archdiocese of Washington, replacing Cardinal James A. Hickey, who had worked for 20 years to support immigrants and the poor in the Washington Archdiocese which serves the District and five counties in Maryland.

Multi-lingual and known for going to great lengths to visit parishes under his jurisdiction, McCarrick gave a homily on Christianity's universality on January 7, a Sunday which marked the end of the Christmas season and of Jubilee Year and the celebration of the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus. "'I think everyone hopes he'll continue doing what Cardinal Hickey has been doing -- outreach to the immigrants,' said Kurt Vorndran, a transplanted Midwesterner who lives in the District and works for a labor union."