McElroy is a Quinn protege, having been ordained to the priesthood by Quinn and then serving as Quinn's personal secretary from 1982-85. He learned plenty from his time in San Francisco and his Lavender Mafia credentials are impeccable.
Yet, Bergoglio passed over McElroy's superior, Archbishop Cordileone, and bumped up his boy, McElroy, from auxiliary bishop right into his college of creepy cardinals.