FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 22, 2001

Contact: 
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240, ext. 27
 

The Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Elliott Abrams, today congratulated Commissioner Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, on his elevation by Pope John Paul II to the Roman Catholic Church's College of Cardinals. The Pope made the announcement Jan. 21 in Rome.

"Archbishop McCarrick's extraordinary leadership and his commitment to religious freedom and social justice are obvious to all of us on the Commission, as they are to anyone who has worked closely with him," Mr. Abrams said. "We are honored to have him on the Commission, where his knowledge of the world and his deep humanitarianism have meant so much to our work. We are delighted, but not surprised, that the Pope recognized those qualities, first in moving him to Washington and now in making him a cardinal." Archbishop McCarrick was archbishop of Newark, N.J. until January, when he took up his present duties.

As a member of the Commission, Archbishop McCarrick participates in its regular monthly meetings and periodic public hearings and has represented the Commission on trips overseas. He was appointed by Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D) of South Dakota under the terms of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, which created the Commission. Archbishop McCarrick's two-year term, like that of all Commissioners, expires May 14, 2001, and he is eligible for reappointment.