Former Belleville bishop among those elevated by Pope Francis to rank of Cardinal
Pope Francis on Sunday announced that 13 Catholic Bishops will be elevated to the rank of Cardinal. Among them is former Diocese of Belleville Bishop Wilton Gregory.
According to an article on the Vatican website, the announcement was to have taken place during a ceremony on Nov. 28, but the Pope surprised faithful during his normal Sunday Angelus at St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
Gregory’s appointment will make him the first African American to hold the title of Cardinal.
Gregory, 72, currently serves as Archbishop of Washington D.C., an appointment that was made last year after 14 years as Archbishop of Atlanta. He served as the seventh Bishop of Belleville from 1993 to 2004.
Bishop Michael McGovern, the Belleville Diocese current bishop, issued a statement early Sunday congratulating Gregory.
“On behalf of the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Belleville, I thank our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the wonderful news of his appointment of Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory as a member of the College of Cardinals,” McGovern said. “Archbishop Gregory generously served as the seventh Bishop of Belleville for over ten years beginning at the end of 1993. His leadership, prayerfulness and commitment to the people of southern Illinois created a strong bond with the people of our diocese. While his subsequent appointment as Archbishop of Atlanta happened sixteen years ago, the priests and the people of Belleville continue expressing their affection for him because he is such a caring pastor.
“I congratulate Archbishop Gregory and promise that he has the prayerful support of our entire community. I join with the clergy and lay faithful of our diocese in praying that God give Archbishop Gregory strength, wisdom and grace for the responsibilities that will follow with becoming a member of the College of Cardinals.”
Gregory came to the Diocese of Belleville from his hometown of Chicago in 1994, where he had served as an auxiliary bishop. He attended McGovern’s installation as Belleville Bishop at St. Peter’s Cathedral in July of this year.
His leadership experience includes serving as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops when the crisis of sex abuse by Catholic clergy was escalating, according to an Archdiocese of Atlanta biography.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a St. Louis-based victims group, said nearly 10 percent of Belleville’s priests were removed in the early 1990s, most of them before Gregory became bishop.
In 2002, the USCCB established procedures for addressing allegations that priests were sexually abusing children in their “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” under Gregory’s leadership.
Catholic observers have anticipated Gregory’s elevation to Cardinal since his appointment to the Washington Diocese, according to the Washington Post.
Gregory quickly exercised his influence in the nation’s capital on June 3 when he issued sharp criticism of President Donald Trump for a staged visit to St. John’s Epioscopal Church.
Law enforcement authorities used gas and rubber bullets to break up a crowd that had gathered on Lafayette Square, near the White House, to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. A short time later, photos and videos emerged, showing Trump posing with a Bible in front of the church.
Gregory called the stunt “reprehensible.”
“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,” Gregory said in a statement following the incident. “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.”
