Pope Francis named 13 new cardinals recently, among them Washington DC Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who will be the first African-American to earn the coveted red Zucchetto. Gregory made headlines this summer when he criticized Donald Trump’s willingness to use religion for political purposes.
In June, a day after civil rights demonstrators were forcibly cleared from a square to facilitate the president’s visit to an Episcopal church near the White House, Gregory was publicly critical of Trump’s decision to visit the St. John Paul II National Shrine.
“I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we might disagree,” Gregory said.
When Gregory led the Atlanta diocese, he wrote positively about conversations with parents of LGBTQ children. On Sunday an advocate for LGBTQ Roman Catholics, Francis DeBernardo, said choosing Gregory for a cardinal’s post was a signal Francis wants “LGBTQ people to be part of the church, and he wants church people to respect them.”
Gregory has also been a leader in aggressively addressing the church’s sexual abuse scandals and shoring up a zero-tolerance policy. In a statement on Sunday, he said becoming a cardinal would allow him to work more closely with the pontiff in caring for the church.
The pope’s move was also praised by the head of the largest US Catholic community, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, a position Gregory once held.
“Pope Francis is sending a powerful message of hope and inclusion to the church in the United States,” Gomez said. “The naming of the first African-American cardinal from the United States gives us an opportunity to pause and offer thanks for the many gifts African-American Catholics have given the church.”
