Pope Francis: Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who slammed Trump visit in June, to become first African American cardinal
The Washington, D.C., archbishop who slammed President Donald Trump's visit to a Roman Catholic shrine in the city will become the first African American cardinal, the Vatican announced Sunday.
Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory, 72, is one of 13 men who will assume the rank of cardinal in ceremonies Nov. 28. Cardinals rank only behind the pope in church hierarchy, and together they vote to elect popes. Cardinals wear red to signify their willingness to shed blood in service of the church.
Pope Francis said on Sunday that Wilton Gregory - Archbishop of Washington and an architect of America's Catholic Church's zero-tolerance policy in response to its clerical abuse crisis - would be elevated to the cardinal, making it the first to hold such Will become African-American. a post.
“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," Gregory said in a statement.
Gregory made national news in June for comments after Trump and first lady Melania Trump's held a brief photo opportunity at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine – a day after Trump's controversial visit to St. John's Episcopal Church.
The archbishop is one of 13 new cardinals announced on Sunday.The elevation of Archbishop Gregory, the first American named as a cardinal since 2016, comes as demonstrations for racial justice and debates over how to address the legacy of slavery and racism have dramatically shifted the conversation about race in the United States. In recent months, Archbishop Gregory has urged the church leaders to improve race relations, recalling his time as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and how important it was for young Black Catholics to see a bishop who looked like them.
Authorities then used smoke canisters and pepper spray to clear a path for the president to walk to St. John's, the historic building known as the church of presidents. The church had been slightly damaged after it was set ablaze during protests of death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.
“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 in a statement then.
They 'have the right to be in a family'
Gregory, a Chicago native, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1973. He served as a parish priest in Chicago, and was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 1983. In 1994, Bishop Gregory was installed as the bishop of Belleville, Illinois, where he served for 11 years, and then as archbishop of Atlanta in 2005, before his appointment as archbishop of Washington in April 2019.
“Ours is the task and the privilege of advancing the goals that were so eloquently expressed 57 years ago by such distinguished voices on that day,” Archbishop Gregory said in August, during a Mass commemorating the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington. “Men and women, young and old, people of every racial and ethnic background are needed in this effort.”
He added: “We are at a pivotal juncture in our country’s struggle for racial justice and national harmony.”
He holds a doctorate in liturgy from the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome.
The other new cardinals include the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Maltese Mario Grech, and Italian Marcello Semeraro, former Bishop of Albano and the new Prefect for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints.
Also on the list: Archbishop of Kilgali, Rwanda, Antoine Kambanda; the Archbishop of Capiz, in the Philippines, Jose Fuerte Advincula; the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Celestino Aós Braco; the Apostolic Vicar of Brunei, Cornelius Sim; the Archbishop of Siena, Italia, Augusto Paolo Lojudice.
The Pope has also appointed the current Guardian of the Franciscan Sacro Convento in Assisi, Mauro Gambett; Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, Archbishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas in Mexico; former Apostolic Nuncio Silvano Tomasi, former permanent observer at the United Nations in Geneva; Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal Household; and the pastor of the Shrine of Divine Love, Father Enrico Fermi.
