Pope appoints first African-American Cardinal in US
2nd November 2020 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Pope Francis made history last week when he named the Rev. Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of the Washington, D.C., area, the first African-American cardinal in the U.S. in the long history of the Catholic Church.
The 72-year-old Gregory, a Chicago native, was one of 13 new cardinals announced by the Pope on Oct. 25. Gregory has a long history of civil rights activism and sociopolitical consciousness, and his appointment as the first Black cardinal in American church history is viewed as a continuation of Francis’ progressive mission and push for modernity and inclusiveness in the church.
In a statement to the public shortly after the announcement last week, Gregory expressed gratitude and humility at the news.
“With a very grateful and humble heart, I thank Pope Francis for this appointment which will allow me to work more closely with him in caring for Christ’s Church,” he said.
In a prayer service last week, Pope Francis asked the public to join him in supporting and joining with the new cardinals in their faith. “Let us pray for the new Cardinals, so that, in confirming their adherence to Christ, they may help me in my ministry as Bishop of Rome, for the good of the entire holy faithful People of God,” Francis said.
The news of Gregory’s appointment was well received in southeast Louisiana, where the Rev. Gregory M. Aymond, the archbishop of New Orleans, was joined by auxiliary bishop Fernand J. Cheri and the Rev. Daniel Green, director of the office of Black Catholic Ministries for New Orleans, in praising the appointment of Wilton Gregory as a cardinal in a joint statement to The Louisiana Weekly.
“We are delighted Archbishop Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington has been appointed by Pope Francis to the College of Cardinals,” they said. “He is truly a man of God, a strong spiritual leader, and a valued member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“He is the first African-American Cardinal. On behalf of all the faithful of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and especially our Black Catholic Community here in New Orleans, we are proud of him and his extraordinary leadership as a bishop.”
The Rev. Gregory was born in Chicago in 1947, and he eventually attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, Niles College (now St. Joseph’s College Seminary) of Loyola University and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary after converting to Catholicism. He was ordained a priest in 1973, and his ensuing ministerial services included several appointments in Illinois before he was named the auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 1983.
Gregory became the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, Ill., in 1994, then was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, where he was installed on January 17, 2005. Pope Francis made Gregory the seventh Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington in April of last year.
Gregory and the other newly named cardinals will be installed in their new positions in a ceremony with Pope Francis at the Vatican, currently scheduled for November 28.
The Rev. Gregory has a long history of commitment to racial healing and social justice. In earlier reporting on his career, Gregory said his consciousnesses was shaped by several events, including the viewing in Chicago of Emmett Till’s public viewing after 14-year-old Emmett was lynched while visiting relatives in Mississippi in 1955.
Most recently, the Rev. Gregory has been a consistent, outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and his divisiveness, including harshly condemning Trump’s use in June of the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington as a prop for what the White House called a photo opportunity” following the use of tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters.
“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,” Gregory said at the time.
The newly appointed cardinal also harshly criticized the police killing in May of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a touchstone event that spurred massive demonstrations for justice and civil rights across the country this year.
“In astonishment, we are seeing the reactions of people across the United States as they express feelings of frustration, hurt and anger in their cry for justice for George Floyd, whom we painfully watched being suffocated in front of our eyes on video in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past week,” Gregory said in a public statement at the time.
“Moments like this cause people of good will, who believe in the value, respect and dignity of every human life, to wonder if and how we can move on from here,” he added. “The horror of George Floyd’s death, like all acts of racism, hurts all of us in the Body of Christ since we are each made in the image and likeness of God, and deserve the dignity that comes with that existence.
“This incident reveals the virus of racism among us once again even as we continue to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.”
In general, Gregory has strongly criticized Trump’s bullying actions and divisive, coarse speech. In an earlier interview with the Catholic Standard, Gregory asserted that such comments and behavior from the president “have deepened divisions and diminished our national life.”
“As an American, a Christian, a Catholic pastor, I pray that our president, other national leaders and all Americans will do all we can to respect the dignity of all God’s children and nothing to further divide our nation,” he added later in the interview. The growing plague of offense and disrespect in speech and actions must end.”
Gregory has also been very vocal in denouncing the widespread sexual abuses that have plagued the Catholic Church and has pressed for greater accountability and change within the Church to stop and prevent such abuse.
Following the news of Gregory’s elevation to cardinal, the Rev. José H. Gomez, the archbishop of Los Angeles, said the appointment reflects Pope Francis’ commitment to diversity and social justice. Gomez also succeeded Gregory as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“By naming Archbishop Wilton Gregory as a Cardinal, Pope Francis is sending a powerful message of hope and inclusion to the Church in the United States,” Gomez told Reuters last week. “As a former president of our national bishops’ conference, Archbishop Gregory displayed generous and principled leadership. The naming of the first African-American cardinal from the United States gives us an opportunity to pause and offer thanks for the many gifts African-American Catholics have given the Church. Please join me in praying for the continued ministry of Archbishop Gregory.”
This article originally published in the November 2, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
