Former Belleville Bishop Picked to Be Archbishop of Washington D.C.

By Fred Bodimer
KMOX Radio
April 5, 2019

https://kmox.radio.com/articles/pope-francis-picks-former-bishop-belleville-wilton-gregory-be-archbishop-washington-dc

Pope Francis has named the former Bishop of Belleville -- Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta -- to become the new Archbishop of Washington D.C.

Archbishop Gregory is replacing Cardinal Donald Wuerl who resigned last year after he was implicated in covering up sexual abuse in the Church.

"This is obviously a moment fraught with challenges throughout our entire Catholic Church, certainly, but nowhere more so than in this local faith community," Archbishop Gregory said at a Thursday news conference in Washington D.C. "And as in any family, challenges can only be overcome by a firmly articulated resolve and commitment to do better, to know Christ better, to serve Christ better. I would be naive not to acknowledge the unique task that awaits us."

Archbishop Gregory was born in Chicago and was consecrated a bishop there in 1983 by the late Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. He served as bishop of the Belleville Diocese from 1994 to 2005 before being elevated to Archbishop of Atlanta.

Archbishop Gregory has spoken out about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church on a number of occasions, including at a US Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting back in 2002 when he was the Bishop of Belleville and president of the USCCB.

"He's going to be a great Archbishop for Washington," said Father Thomas Reese, a senior analyst with Religion News Service and an expert on the Catholic Church. "He's very pastoral. He's smart. And he's got a good record dealing with sex abuse, which is important today in the Catholic Church in terms of healing the kinds of wounds that the church has self-inflicted."

But the leader of the St. Louis branch of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests -- David Clohessy -- isn't so sure.

"Well there were certainly worse bishops to pick but Archbishop Gregory enjoys a better reputation on abuse than he should frankly," Clohessy told KMOX. "His record is pretty mixed to be honest. On the one hand he did help shepherd the one strike policy and help it get adopted by America's bishops. But on the other hand, he's done very little to make sure that policy is enforced."

Plus, Clohessy says Archbishop Gregory has benefitted from good timing.

"A lot of people forget that most of the suspensions of priests in Belleville that happened in the 1990's took place before he ever arrived," said Clohessy. "So he's had the benefit of being in the right place at the right time a couple of times in his career. And so he enjoys a good reputation for fighting abuse when in fact his real performance has been average or sometimes below average."

Archbishop Gregory is seen as a moderate pastor and in line with the progressive philosophy of Pope Francis.

At 71, the Archbishop is nearing the end of his official clerical career.

"That's a problem," Father Reese told KMOX. "I wish he were ten years younger so we could have him for ten more years. He's 71 years old, which means in four years he will have to submit his resignation to the Pope -- whoever the Pope is at that time."

Those resignations are rarely immediate. It is up to the pope's disgression when to accept them.

"Now my guess is probably the Pope will let him continue beyond 75 years of age," said Father Reese. "But still, I wish he were a younger bishop so he could have time to get to know the DC Archdiocese, to make plans, develop and implement a program for the Archdiocese. Four years may be enough for a president but it's not enough for a bishop."

Archbishop Gregory will become the first African American to head the Washington D.C. Archdiocese, which has a membership of about 659,000 Catholics. The post is an influential one and its archbishop traditionally is named a Cardinal.

The installation ceremony for Archbishop Gregory is set for May 20th.

Two of the American Church's most prominent positions will now be headed by clerics with ties to the St. Louis area. Archbishop Gregory in Washington D.C. and New York Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a St. Louis native and former auxiliary bishop in the St. Louis Archdiocese.