WASHINGTON (DC)
National Catholic Reporter
April 4, 2019
By Tom Roberts
In what he termed “a moment fraught with challenges,” the new leader of the Archdiocese of Washington, in his first public appearance here April 4, repeatedly pledged to be honest with his flock.
“I believe that the only way I can serve the local archdiocese is by telling you the truth,” said Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who will become the seventh archbishop of Washington. He repeated the claim several times during a 45-minute news conference in which he also answered questions about the effects of clericalism, the need for transparency in the church, the need to address mistakes of his predecessors, and how he intends to relate to the city’s political scene.
Gregory, 71, currently the archbishop of Atlanta, will be installed in Washington, D.C., on May 21.
“This is obviously a moment fraught with challenges throughout our entire Catholic Church, but nowhere more so than in this local faith community,” he said in prepared remarks, making a reference to the turmoil that has roiled the archdiocese during the past year.
His immediate predecessor, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who introduced Gregory, resigned in October after a Pennsylvania grand jury report raised questions about his handling of abusive priests in the 1990s while bishop of Pittsburgh. Wuerl’s predecessor in Washington, Theodore McCarrick, was removed from the priesthood after revelations he sexually abused a youngster and sexually harassed seminarians.
“I would be naive not to acknowledge the unique task that awaits us,” Gregory said in his remarks. He spoke of his confidence in the grace of God and the goodness of the people of the church as aids in facing his new responsibilities. “I want to come to know you, to hear your stories, to listen to the emotions and experiences and expectations that have shaped your precious Catholic faith, for better or for worse. I want to offer you hope.”
He characterized his new archdiocese, its ethnic and social diversity. In a compact line that spoke of both the material and spiritual richness and poverty of its people, he said: “The Archdiocese of Washington is home to the poor and the powerful, neither of which realizes they are both.”
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