Pope Francis has appointed 13 new cardinals world wide. Archbishop Gregory is listed as elevated to cardinal by his Holiness. The archbishop served in Chicago for 10 years under Cardinal Joseph Bernadine, being transferred to Atlanta and then on to Washington, D.C. His appointment is significant for Black American Catholic leadership.
The archbishop's elevation to Cardinal shows that Black leadership in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church matters. He becomes the first African American to be elevated to cardinal next month and will be the fourth U.S. cardinal created by Francis, following Chicago's Blase Cupich, Newark's Joseph Tobin and Kevin Farrell, the prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.
This is very important for the Roman Catholic Church at this stage in history. Gregory is also the first African American Archbishop of Washington and will be the first Black U.S. cardinal.
His appointment represents recognition of the racial divides in this country, and the need for a cardinal who is invested in compassion and healing for the racial divides in our nation.
Fr. Bryan Massingale, a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University, said that Gregory being made a cardinal "is a powerful affirmation of the dogged faithfulness of Black Catholics in the United States, who have kept faith with a church that has not often been faithful to us."
Joe Murray
Executive Director
Rainbow Sash Movement (LGBTQA Roman Catholics)