Wilton Gregory was born on December 7, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, to Ethel (née Duncan) and Wilton Gregory.[2] One of three children, he has two sisters: Elaine and Claudia.[3] Gregory's parents divorced when he was young, and his grandmother, Etta Mae Duncan, subsequently moved in with the family at their home on the South Side.[4] In 1958, he was enrolled at St. Carthage Grammar School, where he decided to become a priest even before he converted to Catholicism.[3] He was baptized and received his First Communion in 1959, and was confirmed by Bishop Raymond P. Hillinger later that year.[3]
At the age of 25, Gregory was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973.[5][6] For the next three years he served as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Glenview. In 1976, Gregory began graduate studies at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute at the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome.[6] He completed his Doctor of Sacred Liturgy (SLD) in 1980.
In 2002, in recognition of his handling of the sex abuse scandal with repeated apologies and the laicization of priests, Gregory was chosen as Time Magazine's Person of the Week.[11] In 2003, Gregory stated that the US Supreme Court decision on sodomy laws, Lawrence v. Texas, was to be deplored.[12] In October 2020, Gregory was interviewed in an Associated Press article which noted "Gregory has drawn notice for his relatively inclusive approach for LGBT Catholics, and said it was essential that they be treated with respect."[13]
John Paul II named Gregory as the seventh archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta on December 9, 2004.[14] His installation took place on January 17, 2005.[15] He was the third African-American archbishop in the US; the first two, Eugene A. Marino and James P. Lyke, were also archbishops of Atlanta.[16]
Gregory has been active in the church in advocating for the prevention of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy and religious, and for implementing policies to protect the faithful from sexual abuse.[4] He has been one of the leading bishops in the United States regarding this endeavor.[4]Gregory wrote a bi-weekly column for the Roman Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, The Georgia Bulletin entitled "What I have seen and heard".[17] In it, he regularly shared reflections about his faith, work, and experiences.[17]
Gregory spoke out against the 2014 Safe Carry Protection Act, passed by the Georgia General Assembly. [18][19][20] The law permits licensed gun owners to carry guns into many public and private places, including churches, school property, bars, nightclubs, libraries, and some government buildings in Georgia.[19][21][22] The law was supported by the Georgia Baptist Convention,[21] but opposed by Catholic and Episcopalian church leaders.[21][20] Gregory stated that guns would not be allowed in Roman Catholic churches in Georgia, except for those military and civil service personnel who are required to have them.[20][18][21] He stated that carrying guns in churches places vulnerable individuals, such as children, those who are disabled, and the elderly, at risk.[18][21] He says it is against Jesus' teachings of peace, and wrote,
"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."[18][21][23]
In 2014, Gregory was criticized[24] after the archdiocese used $2.2 million from a bequest to build a new archbishop's residence in the Buckhead section of Atlanta on property donated to the church. The residence was designed to also serve as a banquet and conference facility.[25][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 announced that the archdiocese would sell the residence, although he had moved into it only three months earlier.[25][30][31] In November 2014, the archdiocese sold the Buckhead property for $2.6 million, and Gregory moved into a more modest home, purchased for $440,000, in Smyrna, Georgia.[32]
At a 2017 conference at Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts, Gregory called Pope Francis's 2016 apostolic exhortationAmoris laetitia as "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."[33]
In 2018, a group of Catholics started a petition urging Gregory to remove "pro-LGBT" Monsignor Henry Gracz of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta from his position as a spiritual advisor to victims of sexual abuse for allegedly contravening Church teaching. Gregory declined to do so, saying, "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."[34]
Archbishop of Washington
On April 4, 2019, Pope Francis named Gregory as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.[35][36] He was installed on May 21, 2019.[37] The archdiocese comprises 139 parishes in the District of Columbia and the Maryland counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Saint Mary's.[38]
In an interview on August 1, 2019, Gregory criticized rhetoric from President Donald 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."[39]
"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."[40][41][42][43][44]
It was subsequently reported that the White House had invited Gregory to the event at the National Shrine before it had been publicly announced, and that Gregory had written that he must "unfortunately" decline the "kind invitation," citing a prior commitment.[45]
Archbishop Gregory greets parishioners after a Mass at St. Augustine Church in Washington, D.C.
After the November 2020 US presidential election of Vice President Joe Biden as president, Gregory emphasized the need to "engage and dialogue" with the new administration. He noted a "clear divergence of opinions" on abortion rights, but a closer alignment of views on "respect for the dignity of our immigrant community"; an end to capital punishment"; and "the pursuit of racial and social justice."[47] Gregory said he was "not going to veer" from the long-established practice of allowing Biden to receive communion.[48] When asked why he would not deny communion to a president-elect who supports abortion rights, Gregory said, "I don't want to go to the table with a gun on the table first."[49] Gregory would deliver the invocation at the ceremony memorializing victims of the coronavirus pandemic prior to Biden's inauguration.
When asked in 2019 by a transgender person about whether there was a place for them in the Catholic Church, Gregory responded:
"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."[50]
Like his predecessors, as archbishop of Washington, Gregory serves as the chancellor of Catholic University of America.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprioSummorum Pontificum widened the availability of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Pope Francis promulgated Traditionis custodes in 2021, restricting its availability once more. On July 22, 2022, Gregory promulgated liturgical norms in accordance with the new document.[57] The restrictions, scheduled to take effect on September 21, caused consternation and division among some Catholics in the archdiocese because some affected parishes have been reliant on parishioners who are attached to this form of the liturgy.[58][59]
Francis Eugene George was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the eighth Archbishop of Chicago in Illinois (1997–2014) and previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Yakima and Archbishop of Portland.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States and the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church for the District of Columbia and several Maryland counties in the United States.
The Archdiocese of Atlanta is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Georgia in United States. The archdiocese is led by a prelate archbishop, who also serves as pastor of the mother church, the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. As of 2023, the archbishop of Atlanta is Gregory Hartmayer.
Allen Henry Vigneron is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan and Ecclesiastical Superior of the Cayman Islands since 2009. Vigneron previously served as Bishop of Oakland in California from 2003 to 2009 and as an auxiliary bishop of Detroit from 1996 to 2003.
John Francis Donoghue was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte in North Carolina from 1984 to 1993 and as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta in Georgia from 1993 to 2004.
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Gregory John Hartmayer, O.F.M. Conv. is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. A Conventual Friar Minor, he serves as the Archbishop of Atlanta in Georgia, having returned to the archdiocese where he worked from 1995 to 2011. From 2011 to 2020, Hartmayer served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia.
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1 2 3 Bennett Kinnon, Joy (December 1, 2002). "Bishop Gregory: Powerful Black Bishop Helps Catholic Church Confront Sexual Abuse Problems and a New World". Ebony.
↑ "Conference President Criticizes Supreme Court Decision | USCCB". www.usccb.org. June 23, 2003. Retrieved January 10, 2023. 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.
↑ Gregory, Wilton D. (May 1, 2014). Viewpoints: What I have seen and heard: Decrying the state's new gun law. The Georgia Bulletin. Smyrna, Georgia: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.
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