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Pope Francis Appoints First African-American Cardinal Pope Francis Appoints First African-American Cardinal
(32 minutes later)
ROME — Pope Francis said on Sunday that Wilton Gregory — the archbishop of Washington and an architect of the U.S. Roman Catholic Church’s zero-tolerance policy in response to its clerical sexual abuse crisis — would be elevated to cardinal, making him the first African-American to hold such a position. WASHINGTON — Pope Francis on Sunday named Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, a cardinal, making him the first African-American to hold a position in the Catholic church’s highest governing body.
The archbishop is one of 13 new cardinals announced on Sunday. The elevation of Archbishop Gregory, who is also the first American named to the College of Cardinals since 2016, comes as demonstrations for racial justice and debates over how to address the legacy of slavery and racism have shifted the conversation about race in the United States.
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’s 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. “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,” Archbishop José H. Gomez, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement.
“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.” In recent months, Archbishop Gregory has urged the church’s 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.
He added, “We are at a pivotal juncture in our country’s struggle for racial justice and national harmony.” In August, during a Mass commemorating the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington, Archbishop Gregory said, “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.” He added that “men and women, young and old, people of every racial and ethnic background are needed in this effort.”
The archbishop of Washington is often elevated to cardinal. Archbishop Gregory took over a diocese once led by Theodore McCarrick and Donald Wuerl, two prelates tarnished by the church sexual abuse crisis of the early 2000s. Last year, Pope Francis stripped Mr. McCarrick first of his title as cardinal and then of his status as priest after accusations of sexual abuse against him that the church deemed credible. Cardinal Wuerl left the position under a cloud of controversy amid accusations that he had failed to prevent abuse decades earlier in his diocese in Pittsburgh. “We are at a pivotal juncture in our country’s struggle for racial justice and national harmony,” he said.
Archbishop Gregory, who served for years in the archdiocese of Atlanta, is also a former president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference and is considered in line with Francis’ pastoral and welcoming approach in the church. Archbishop Gregory, 72, was one of 13 new cardinal appointments around the world that Pope Francis announced on Sunday. A Chicago native, he served for years in the diocese of Atlanta before coming to Washington last year, when the pontiff made him the country’s first African-American archbishop. He is also a former president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose vision is considered in line with Francis’ pastoral and welcoming approach in the church.
The ceremony to install the new cardinals is set for Nov. 28, and the Vatican offered no details about how it would conduct the consistory, an ornate ceremony in which the pope physically puts red hats onto the heads of the new cardinals, given concerns over the coronavirus and new restrictions announced in Italy on Sunday. Like many institutions in other spheres, the Catholic church in the United States has long minimized the experience and value of African Americans, said Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana, the country’s only historically Black and Catholic university.
Usually, new cardinals hold public receptions for well wishers and the faithful in the palaces of the Vatican and its conference hall. With travel restrictions in place for many countries, it is unclear whether some of the bishops will be able to make the trip. “It is our great sin,” he said. “The Vatican is leading us in a new direction, and I think Pope Francis is showing a new opening for us as a church, that we are one church.”
Nine of the 13 men named on Sunday, including Archbishop Gregory, are under 80 and therefore eligible to participate in the next conclave to elect Francis’ successor. The new cardinals chosen by Francis reflect his priorities, making it more likely that the college will elect someone like him. Only about 250 of the estimated 37,000 Catholic priests in the United States are African-American, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Only one other diocese beyond the Archdiocese of Washington is currently led by an African-American: Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana.
His list also included Celestino Aos, the archbishop of Santiago, Chile, a boost for the Catholic church in a country where numerous bishops resigned in 2018 after a sexual abuse scandal. The majority of Black American adults are Protestant, but about 5 percent are Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center. The Catholic church historically had a smaller presence in the Deep South, which has long been significantly Baptist, but the Black Catholic community grew in places where the church had a stronger presence, like Texas and Louisiana, as well as in the Northeast, as immigrants met and married Black people who had moved there during the Great Migration, Dr. Verret said.
Other new appointees include top Vatican officials like Marcello Semeraro, the prefect in charge of sainthoods; and people who closely represent Francis’ vision, such as Mauro Gambetti, a Franciscan friar and custodian of the Holy Convent of Assisi, which is closely associated with St. Francis. It was that saint whose name the pope, formerly Jorge Mario Bergoglio, adopted upon assuming the papacy. For centuries, Black Catholics were excluded from seminaries and religious orders, and when they were included, they were often given positions with little power and were not allowed to lead African-American parishes, said Shannen Dee Williams, assistant professor of history at Villanova University.
Francis also tapped as cardinals prelates from across the world, such as Antoine Kambanda, archbishop of Rwanda; Jose Fuerte Advincula, archbishop of Capiz in the Philippines; and Cornelius Sim, archbishop of Brunei. Archbishop Gregory’s appointment is the “culmination of a longstanding Black Catholic freedom struggle against racism, slavery, segregation and exclusion within the U.S. church,” she said.
The appointees who are over 80 and therefore cannot vote in the next papal election include Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel of Mexico; the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, a Franciscan friar in the pontifical household; Silvano Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat to the United Nations; and Enrico Feroci, the former director of Caritas, the church’s charity arm. “The significance of his role as the first Black Archbishop, now Cardinal, of Washington D.C., which was the center of power of the U.S. church’s slaveholding elite, also cannot be overstated,” Dr. Williams said. “His presence, voice and advocacy against racism as a ‘pro-life’ issue in the Church is needed now more than ever.”
Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting. Archbishop Gregory’s leadership in Washington was a turning point for a pivotal diocese previously led by Theodore McCarrick and Donald Wuerl, two prelates tarnished by the church sexual abuse crisis.
Last year, Pope Francis stripped Mr. McCarrick first of his title as cardinal and then of his status as priest after accusations of sexual abuse against him that the church deemed credible. Cardinal Wuerl left the position under a cloud of controversy amid accusations that he had failed to prevent abuse decades earlier in his diocese in Pittsburgh.
This summer, as protests spread against the police killing of George Floyd, Archbishop Gregory publicly clashed with President Trump, who visited the Saint John Paul II National Shrine the day after armed officers unleashed tear gas and rubber pellets on peaceful protesters near the White House.
“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,” Archbishop Gregory wrote.
Pope John Paul II, he said, “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.”
Archbishop Gregory has called on Congress to reform the nation’s immigration system and create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. He also commissioned a climate action plan for Catholics at home and at church to protect the environment, after Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment in 2015.
He has also been a relatively strong supporter of L.G.B.T.Q. people in the church, and last summer told a transgender Catholic that they “belong to the heart of this church” and that “there is a lot that has been said to you, about you, behind your back that is painful and is sinful.”
Nine of the 13 men named as new cardinals on Sunday, including Archbishop Gregory, are under age 80 and therefore eligible to participate in the next conclave to elect Francis’ successor. The new cardinals chosen by Francis reflect his priorities, making it more likely that the college will elect someone like him. His list included prelates from Rwanda, the Philippines and Brunei.
The ceremony to install the new cardinals is set for Nov. 28 in Rome. The Vatican offered no details about how it would conduct the consistory, an ornate ceremony in which the pope physically puts red hats onto the heads of the new cardinals, given concerns over the coronavirus and new restrictions announced on Sunday in Italy. With travel restrictions in place for many countries, it is unclear whether some of the bishops will be able make the trip.
Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., president of the National Black Catholic Congress and an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington, hopes to be able to join for the historic moment.
Archbishop Gregory’s elevation is a sign of hope, he said, especially for young Black Catholic men considering a call to the priesthood.
“You are not living your faith in vain,” he said. “God will use you."
Jason Horowitz reported from Rome. Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting.