Gregory, who was born and ordained in Chicago, said he viewed his appointment as “an affirmation of Black Catholics in the United States, the heritage of faith and fidelity that we represent.”
By Associated Press Nov 28, 2020, 11:05am CST
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Cardinal and Archbishop Wilton Gregory, pictured in June 2019 at St. Augustine Church in Washington, D.C. The Chicago native was elevated at a Vatican ceremony Saturday. AP PhotosROME — Chicago native Wilton Gregory became the Roman Catholic Church’s first African American cardinal during a Vatican ceremony Saturday as Pope Francis elevated a total of 13 men to the highest rank in the Catholic hierarchy.
The appointment of Cardinal Gregory — the Washington D.C. archbishop who was born and ordained in Chicago — comes after a year of racial protests in the U.S. sparked by the latest killing of a Black man by a white police officer. Francis has endorsed the protests and cited the American history of racial injustices.
Before being elevated, Gregory told the Associated Press that he viewed his appointment as “an affirmation of Black Catholics in the United States, the heritage of faith and fidelity that we represent.”
“There is awareness now of the need for racial reconciliation, an awareness that I have not seen at this level and at this intensity before,” Gregory said.
