Addressing the Feb. 17 CUA on Tap gathering at The Catholic University of America, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory encouraged students to be proud of their Catholic identity and to reach out to one another to build their community of faith. Also in his talk, which took place during Black History Month, the cardinal reflected on the impact Black Catholics have had in the Church’s history and how the Church is incomplete without their presence today.

“Don’t be embarrassed because you’re a Catholic, be proud that you’re a Catholic,” Cardinal Gregory said. “And be proud in a way that doesn’t put other people down, it’s a joyful pride.” 

The ‘Great Room’ of Catholic University’s Pryzbyla Center was full as students gathered to hear the cardinal.  “(CUA) President (John) Garvey told me earlier when I had a few moments to greet him, that this is a capacity crowd. Now I don’t know what the capacity is, but it’s a wonderful crowd,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

Tables were adorned with bags of chips and snacks, fliers with prayers, and information on notable members of the Church. Students scanned QR codes with their phones to submit questions for the question and answer portion later on in the evening. 

Cardinal Gregory, who as the archbishop of Washington also serves as Catholic University’s chancellor, opened his remarks with a prayer. He prayed for the students, faculty, and staff at CUA, as well as the students’ support systems, asking that they be given “courage and wisdom as they continue their studies, and complete their studies, and to bring them the kind of grace and joy that You have promised to all those who believe and love in You.”

The cardinal noted how grateful he was to be invited to speak to the students, and how glad he was to be able to be a part of an in-person event. “I am ‘Zoomed’ out,” Cardinal Gregory said, “And I think most of you are ‘Zoomed’ out, too.”

Cardinal Gregory is the first African-American cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church and was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in November 2020. He discussed how the unique identity of Black Catholics is to be “treasured and desired” in the Church.

“The Church is simply incomplete without the presence of young Black Catholics,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

Molly Herrera, the program director of Campus and Young Adult Ministry for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, said afterward that even though Cardinal Gregory doesn’t emphasize how monumental it is that he is the first Black cardinal in the United States, “It’s a really big deal…so I loved that he talked about that, he really was engaged and in tune with his own experience that he could share with young people and young Black Catholics, who I know just from friends and peers that can be a really isolating experience.”

The cardinal drew from the story of Cornelius and Peter to highlight how Catholics can embrace those with different backgrounds and engage them in respectful dialogue. Cornelius was a member of the Roman army and a Gentile, while Peter – who would later become St. Peter, the first pope – was a Jewish fisherman. Cardinal Gregory noted how Peter had wavered in his devotion to spreading the word of God, but it was after Cornelius and Peter finally met through divine intervention to discuss the Gospel that Peter truly understood his role in the Church. 

“Jesus literally did intend that all people, and all nations, are beloved by the Father and they are worthy of Christ’s salvation,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

Cardinal Gregory explored the contributions of notable Black leaders in the Church who are now being considered for sainthood, including Venerable Pierre Toussaint, a freed slave who helped orphaned children and immigrants, and worked to help raise money to build a church in New York City. The cardinal also noted Servant of God Julia Greeley, a former slave who converted to Catholicism and devoted her life to charity in Denver, and he highlighted Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a former CUA graduate and a nationally known evangelist who was credited with calling for Black Catholics to bring their ‘whole selves’ to the Church. 

“You should not have to deny or ignore your culture or race to feel welcome in the Church,” Cardinal Gregory said. “You are welcome and needed in our Church.”

After the cardinal finished his remarks, Catholic University President Garvey addressed the students. Then Cardinal Gregory returned to the stage to finish the event with a Q&A session.

One of the student-submitted questions asked about how the archbishop found out he had been given the rank of cardinal. 

“The pope does not give you advanced notice,” Cardinal Gregory said, as he recounted the 6 a.m. phone call he received on Sunday Oct. 25, 2020 from Cardinal Kevin Farrell. “In an excited voice, he said, ‘I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you on being made into the College of Cardinals.’” Cardinal Farrell, a former priest and auxiliary bishop in Washington who later became the bishop of Dallas, now serves as the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

Afterward, Austin Nappi, who has been a student minister for two years at Catholic University, reflected on the cardinal’s message about Catholic identity. “Being a senior, going out into the real world next year, I think really just owning and not being ashamed of my Catholic identity…is really a huge thing, letting that joy of the Gospel speak through my actions and words,” Nappi said.

Amy Schleimer, the associate campus minister for women’s ministry at Catholic University, oversees the student ministers who plan CUA on Tap. Due to pandemic restrictions, the process of bringing Cardinal Gregory back on campus was two years in the making. “It’s been a process of waiting to get him here, but we are grateful that he was able to come, and especially to come during Black History Month,” she said. 

Schleimer said she appreciated the cardinal’s message to the students about making an effort to find and form a community. “I think that was a call to all students on campus, and I think something that would really benefit our students (is) to just sit down and learn more about their peers and learn more about the people who seem different than them, but they would be able to find some of those connections,” she said. 

Next month, President Garvey and his wife, Jeanne Walter Garvey, will speak at CUA on Tap. “They were the very first CUA on Tap speakers in the fall of 2010, when they first arrived, so now they are trying to bookend the experience,” Schleimer said. 

In a September 2020 letter to the Catholic University community, Garvey announced that he would be stepping down from his leadership role there on June 30, 2022.