Wilton Gregory | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Washington | |
.jpg) Gregory in 2024 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Washington |
| See | Washington |
| Appointed | April 4, 2019 |
| Installed | May 21, 2019 |
| Retired | January 6, 2025 |
| Predecessor | Donald William Wuerl |
| Successor | Robert W. McElroy |
| Other posts |
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| Previous posts |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 9, 1973 by John Cody |
| Consecration | December 13, 1983 by Joseph Bernardin |
| Created cardinal | November 28, 2020 byPope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wilton Daniel Gregory (1947-12-07)December 7, 1947 (age 78) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Denomination | Catholic (Latin Church) |
| Residence | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Parents | Ethel Duncan Wilton Gregory, Sr. |
| Alma mater | |
| Motto | We are the Lord's |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Wilton Daniel Gregory | |
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| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Religious style | Cardinal |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Wilton Daniel Gregory Jr. (born December 7, 1947) is anAmerican Catholicprelate who served asArchbishop of Washington from 2019 to 2025.Pope Francis made him acardinal in 2020, the first ofAfrican-American descent.[1]
Gregory previously served as an auxiliary bishop of theArchdiocese of Chicago from 1983 to 1994; asBishop of Belleville from 1994 to 2004; and asArchbishop of Atlanta from 2005 to 2019.[2]
Gregory was the first African-American president of theUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 2001 to 2004. He led the USCCB in issuing the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" in response to thesexual abuse scandal in the American Catholic Church.[2]
Wilton Gregory was born on December 7, 1947, inChicago, Illinois, to Ethel (née Duncan) and Wilton Gregory Sr.[3] One of three children, he has two sisters: Elaine and Claudia.[4] Gregory's parents divorced when he was young, and his grandmother, Etta Mae Duncan, subsequently moved in with the family at their home on theSouth Side of Chicago.[5]
In 1958, Gregory was enrolled at St. Carthage Grammar School, a parochial school in Chicago. He later said that he decided then to become a priest, even though he was not a Catholic.[4] At 11-years-old, Gregory wasbaptized and received hisfirst communion in 1959, and wasconfirmed by BishopRaymond Hillinger later that year.[4]
After graduating from St. Carthage in 1961, Gregory attendedQuigley Preparatory Seminary South, a minor seminary in Chicago. He then went toNiles College in Chicago andSt. Mary of the Lake Seminary inMundelein, Illinois.[3]
At age 25, Gregory wasordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973.[6][7] After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned him as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish inGlenview, Illinois. In 1976, the archdiocese sent Gregory to Rome to begin graduate studies at thePontifical Liturgical Institute at thePontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm.[7] He completed his Doctor of Sacred Liturgy degree (SLD) there in 1980.
After returning to Illinois, Gregory was assigned to teachliturgy at Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary. He also served as amaster of ceremonies under CardinalsJohn Cody andJoseph Bernardin.[8]
On October 31, 1983, Gregory was appointed byPope John Paul II as anauxiliary bishop ofChicago and titular bishop of Oliva.[9] At 35, he was the youngest bishop in the country. Gregory received hisepiscopal consecration on December 13, 1983, from Bernardin, with BishopsAlfred Abramowicz andNevin Hayes serving asco-consecrators.
On December 29, 1993, John Paul II appointed Gregory as the seventh bishop ofBelleville;[10] he was installed on February 10, 1994.
In 1998, Gregory was elected as USCCB vice president and as the chair of several committees.[11] Three years later, in 2001, he was elected as USCCB president, just the second African-American to head an episcopal conference.[12] During Gregory's presidency, the USCCB issued the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" in response tosex abuse cases by clergy. His term as USCCB president ended in 2004.
In 2002, in recognition of Gregory's handling of thesex abuse scandal,Time Magazine chose him as a Person of the Week.[13]
John Paul II named Gregory as the seventh archbishop ofAtlanta on December 9, 2004.[14] Hisinstallation took place on January 17, 2005.[15] He was the third African-American archbishop in the United States; the first two men,Eugene A. Marino andJames P. Lyke, were also archbishops of Atlanta.[16]
Gregory was active in the church in advocating for the prevention ofchild sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and religious, and for implementing policies to protect the faithful from sexual abuse.[5] He had been one of the leading bishops in the United States regarding this endeavor.[5] Gregory wrote a bi-weekly column for the archdiocesan newspaper,The Georgia Bulletin, entitled "What I have seen and heard".[17] In it, he regularly shared reflections about his faith, work, and experiences.[17]
In 2014, Gregory was criticized after the archdiocese used $2.2 million from abequest to build a new archbishop's residence in theBuckhead section of Atlanta on church property.[18] The archdiocese designed the residence to also serve as a banquet and conference facility.[19][a] In March and April 2014, Gregory apologized to parishioners of the archdiocese, saying that he had:
failed to consider the impact on the families throughout the Archdiocese who, though struggling to pay their mortgages, utilities, tuition and other bills, faithfully respond year after year to my pleas to assist with funding our ministries and services.
Gregory ordered the archdiocese to sell the residence after living there only three months.[19][24][25] In November 2014, the archdiocese sold the property for $2.6 million and Gregory moved into a $440,000 home inSmyrna, Georgia.[26] At a 2017 conference atBoston College in Boston, Massachusetts, Gregory calledPope Francis's 2016apostolic exhortationAmoris laetitia, on the pastoral love of families, as a:
...document that recognizes the real and serious problems and challenges facing families today, but at the same time it is a proclamation of hope through the mercy and grace of God.
Gregory said that Francis "challenges the church and its pastors to move beyond thinking that everything is black and white, so that we sometimes close off the way of grace and growth."[27] In 2018, a group of Catholics petitioned Gregory to remove Monsignor Henry Gracz from theShrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta for allegedly contravening Catholic teaching. Grasz served there as a spiritual advisor to victims of sexual abuse.[28] Gregory refused to remove him, saying,[28]
Msgr. Gracz is following the admonition of Pope Francis to accompany people on the periphery of society. His priestly heart is not closed to those who find themselves misunderstood or rejected.
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On April 4, 2019, Pope Francis named Gregory as archbishop ofWashington.[29][30] He was installed on May 21, 2019.[31][32] In an August 2019 interview withCrux Magazine, Gregory criticized rhetoric from PresidentDonald Trump, saying, "I fear that recent public comments by our president and others and the responses they have generated, have deepened divisions and diminished our national life"; he called for an "end" to "the growing plague of offense and disrespect in speech and actions."[33]
In June 2020, Trump visited theSaint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington. Before the visit, police forcibly dispersed a group of protestors in front of the shrine.[citation needed] During that visit, held to promote anexecutive order on religious freedom, Trump and First LadyMelania Trump stood in front of the statue of John Paul II for aphoto opportunity for journalists. Along with other religious leaders, Gregory immediately condemned the visit, saying,[34][35][36][37][38]
I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree… Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.
TheNational Catholic Register subsequently reported that theWhite House had privately invited Gregory to the National Shrine event. Gregory had declined the invitation, citing a prior commitment.[39]
In September 2020, Francis appointed Gregory to serve as theapostolic administrator for theDiocese of Saint Thomas, a suffragan diocese of Washington.[40] Gregory would deliver theinvocation at the ceremony memorializing victims of thecoronavirus pandemic prior to Vice President Joe Biden's inauguration as president. Like his predecessors, as archbishop of Washington, Gregory served as the chancellor of Catholic University of America.
Following the release ofTraditionis custodes, which severely restricted the use of theExtraordinary Form of theRoman Rite, Gregory promulgated new liturgical norms in accordance with the motu proprio. He restricted celebrations of the extraordinary form in the archdiocese, to three locations. He also prohibited these celebrations duringChristmas, theEaster Triduum,Easter Sunday andPentecost Sunday, as well as prohibiting the celebration of other sacraments in that form.[41] These restrictions upset some Catholics who had become attached to the Extraordinary Form.[42][43]
Pope Francis accepted Gregory's resignation as archbishop of Washington on January 6, 2025, and named CardinalRobert McElroy from theDiocese of San Diego to succeed him.[44]
On October 25, 2020, Francis announced he would raise Gregory to the rank ofcardinal at theconsistory of November 28, 2020.[45][46] At that consistory, Francis created him acardinal-priest, with thetitular church ofImmacolata Concezione di Maria a Grottarossa in Rome.[47] Gregory became the first African-American cardinal in history.[48][49] In December 2020, Francis named Gregory as a member of theDicastery for the Laity, Family and Life at the Vatican.[50] Gregory participated as acardinal elector in the2025 papal conclave that electedPope Leo XIV.[51]
After theNovember 2020 US election of Joe Biden as president, Gregory emphasized the need to "engage and dialogue" with the new administration. He noted a "clear divergence of opinions" with Biden onabortion rights for women, but a closer alignment of views with him on the "respect for the dignity of our immigrant community", on an "end to capital punishment", and "the pursuit of racial and social justice".[52]
Gregory said he was "not going to veer" from the long-established practice of allowing Biden, a Catholic, to receive theeucharist.[53] When asked why, Gregory said, "I don't want to go to the table with a gun on the table first."[54]
Gregory spoke out against the 2014Safe Carry Protection Act, passed by theGeorgia General Assembly.[55][56][57] The new law permitted licensed gun owners to carry guns in churches and other public places.[56][58][59] After the law passed, Gregory stated he would not allow guns in archdiocesan churches, except for those required by the military and police.[57][55][58] He stated that guns in churches placed vulnerable individuals, such as children, the disabled, and the elderly, at risk.[55][58] Furthermore, guns in church contravened Jesus' teachings of peace,"[55][58][60]
Rather than make guns more available as a solution, we need leaders in government and society who will speak against violence in all aspects of life and who teach ways of reconciliation and peace and who make justice, not vengeance, our goal.
In 2003, Gregory criticized the 2003US Supreme Court decision onLawrence v. Texas that declared laws criminalizing sodomy between consenting adults were unconstitutional.[61] When asked in 2019 by atransgender person about whether the Catholic Church had a place for them, Gregory responded:[62]
You belong to the heart of this Church. And there is nothing that you may do, may say, that will ever rip you from the heart of this Church. There is a lot that has been said to you, about you, behind your back, that is painful and is sinful. And so that's why I mentioned my conversations with Fortunate Families. We have to find a way to talk to one another. And to talk to one another, not just from one perspective, but to talk and to listen to one another. I think that's the way that Jesus ministered. He engaged people, he took them where they were at, and He invited them to go deeper, closer to God. So if you're asking me where do you fit? You fit in the family.
In October 2020, Gregory was interviewed in anAssociated Press article that noted, "Gregory has drawn notice for his relatively inclusive approach for LGBTQ Catholics, and said it was essential that they be treated with respect."[63]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Respect for the purpose of human sexuality and the family needs to be reaffirmed in our society; and anything which reduces respect for them—such as yesterday's Supreme Court decision—is to be deplored.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Belleville 1994–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 2001–2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Atlanta 2005–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Washington 2019–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Priest of Immacolata Concezione di Maria a Grottarossa 2020–present | Incumbent |
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