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25 October 2020The Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, one of the 13 new cardinals announced by the Pope, will be the first African American to obtain this title in the United States, stresses the Washington Post, specifying that the choice was predictable, because the archbishops of the US capital they are typically appointed cardinals, but it is nevertheless symbolically significant in the Catholic Church, where African Americans are under-represented at the leadership level.



Gregory was appointed archbishop - again the first African American in the United States - in 2019, taking over from Cardinal Donald Wuerl, accused of mishandling the sexual abuse of the clergy in the diocese.


Pope Francis to make DC Archbishop Wilton Gregory a cardinal next month, the first African American to earn such a rank https://t.co/NWgodIF70H

- The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 25, 2020



Biography


Monsignor Gregory was born on December 7, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois.

After attending elementary school in Chicago, he entered Quigley Preparatory Seminary.

He did his philosophical studies at Niles College and theological studies at Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein (Illinois).

Subsequently he obtained a Doctorate in Liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant'Anselmo in Rome (1980).



He was ordained a priest on May 9, 1973 for the archdiocese of Chicago.

After his priestly ordination, he was Parish Vicar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Glenview;

Student in Rome (1976-1979);

Professor of Liturgy at Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelain, Member of the Archdiocesan Office for the Liturgy and Master of Ceremonies to Cardinals Cody and Bernardin (1980-1983).



He was appointed titular bishop of Oliva and auxiliary of Chicago on October 18, 1983. On December 29, 1993 he was transferred to the See of Belleville (Illinois) and took possession on February 10, 1994. He was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Atlanta (Georgia). on December 9, 2004.



Within the US Episcopal Conference, he was President (2001-2004), Vice-President (1998-2001), Member of the Executive and Administrative Committees, of the Committee on Doctrine, of the Committee on International Policy, Chair of the Committee on Personnel, the Committee on the Third Millennium / Jubilee Year 2000 (1998-2001) and the Committee on Liturgy (1991-1993).



On April 4, 2019, Pope Francis appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Washington.

In addition to English, he speaks Italian and Spanish.