April 14, 2019 - "The New Archbishop of Washington"

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, publicized on April 7, 2019 the appointment of the Most Reverend Wilton Gregory as the new Archbishop of Washington by Pope Francis.  The press release from the USCCB contains the following information about our Archbishop.
 
He was born on December 7, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois.  He attended the University of St. Mary at Mundelein Seminary and completed the doctorate in sacred liturgy in 1980 at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (Sant’Anselmo) in Rome.
 
He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973.  On December 13, 1983, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Chicago.  He was then installed as bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, IL on February 10, 1994.  Pope Saint John Paul II appointed him as the sixth Archbishop of Atlanta.  He was installed on January 17, 2005.  Archbishop Gregory will be installed as the seventh Archbishop of Washington on May 21, 2019.
 
Archbishop Gregory served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from November 2001 to 2004, following three years as USCCB vice president.  Under his leadership, the USCCB implemented the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”  He also previously served on other committees including the Committee on Doctrine, Liturgy, Administrative, and International Policy and also as Chairman of the Bishops’ Committees on Personnel and the Third Millennium/Jubilee Year 2000.
 
During the Press Conference on April 4, 2019, Mark Zimmerman, editor of the Catholic Standard, asked Archbishop Gregory about his initial contact with the Catholic Church.  In answer to that question Archbishop Gregory talked about being a boy of ten.  His family lived on the South Side of Chicago and were concerned about the quality of education being offered at the time in the Chicago Public Schools.  At that time there was a lot of transition in neighborhoods.  African American families were moving into the area, while Caucasian families were moving out.  The local Catholic parish was St. Carthage Church.  The Pastor, the Associate Pastor, and the Adrian Dominican Sisters who staffed the school decided they were keeping the parish school open and would welcome the increasing number of African American families who wanted their children to attend St. Carthage School.  Soon after entering the school in sixth grade, young Wilton Gregory decided to become a Catholic and announced that he wanted to become a priest.  The pastor of the parish met with him and prepared him to receive the Sacraments.  After graduating from St. Carthage School, he entered the seminary.
 
Earlier during the press conference Archbishop Gregory was asked about what has been described as clerical or hierarchical culture in the sex abuse crisis.  In response, Archbishop Gregory recounted a scene from early in his priesthood.  He had just been appointed to study in Rome and just purchased a trunk in a store on Wabash Avenue when he met an older priest whom he greatly admired.  The older priest warned the young Father Gregory of three temptations that he would face in Rome: “He said, ‘You will face the temptation for self-aggrandizement, the temptation for pleasure, and the temptation to power.  And the most damaging and seductive temptation is that for power.’ 

“And I think so much of what we are facing now was a misuse of power, an abuse of power, clerical power, power that was intended in too many cases to dominate and destroy lives.”
 
When asked about the need for transparency in the church, he repeated, “I will always tell you the truth.”
 
When asked about he intended to relate to the public officials and politicians in this our nation’s capital, Archbishop Gregory responded in this way:  “I see this appointment as an appointment to be the pastor of the Archdiocese of Washington.  I was not elected to Congress.  The pastor must speak of those things that are rooted in the Gospel, but I’m not going to be at any negotiating tables.  That’s not my place.  My place is in the pews with the people.”
 
Have a Blessed Holy Week,
Fr. John