When Pope Francis named then-Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory as one of 13 new cardinals around the world on Oct. 25, 2020, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, expressed gratitude to the pope for that appointment of a native son of Chicago who became Catholic and served as a priest and bishop there.
“While we take particular pride in this recognition of a dedicated priest, whom we are proud to claim as our own, we are also moved that Pope Francis chose this compassionate, thoughtful pastor when our nation and the world are in desperate need of healing and courageous leadership,” Cardinal Cupich said in a statement issued that day by the Archdiocese of Chicago.
That statement also said, “The Archdiocese of Chicago rejoices in the appointment of Chicago native, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, to the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church. His brother priests, many of whom he helped form, and the people of the archdiocese he served join in offering our heartfelt congratulations. Cardinal Gregory, who came to the Catholic faith as a student in an archdiocese grammar school, went on to become a strong leader in addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the Church and society. In his years as president of the United States Conference of Bishops and beyond, he has been at the forefront of moving the Church to repair the damage of child sexual abuse and confronting racism in all its forms.”
Cardinal Gregory – who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis during a Nov. 28 Consistory in Rome – became Catholic after attending St. Carthage School in Chicago in 1958 as a sixth grader, inspired by the example of the parish priests and Adrian Dominican sisters there. He was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1973 and an auxiliary bishop there 10 years later.
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin gives then-Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Wilton Gregory the bishop’s ring during his episcopal ordination on Dec. 13, 1983 at Holy Name Cathedral. (Photo by James Kilcoyne/Chicago Catholic)
From 1994 to 2004, Bishop Gregory led the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, and he served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops when they adopted the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” in 2002 to address the clergy abuse crisis.
Archbishop Gregory was installed as the archbishop of Atlanta in 2005 and served there until being named in 2019 as the archbishop of Washington, which had been impacted by abuse and misconduct allegations involving Theodore McCarrick, Washington’s former cardinal archbishop who was removed from the priesthood earlier that year.
In an interview after then-Archbishop Gregory was appointed to Washington, Father Dominic Grassi – a retired priest who was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago with then-Father Gregory in 1973 – said, “I don’t know of anybody who could be better... He will be pastoral… They need someone to heal them, and that’s Wilton.”
He said that in the seminary, their rector taught them “the people come first, the people of God. We were called to serve them and not be served.”
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron -- the founder of Word on Fire Catholic ministries and the host of the CATHOLICISM documentary series on PBS – noted his first spiritual director as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Chicago was then-Father Wilton Gregory, who gave him wise advice.
“He said, ‘Always focus on what the Lord has put right in front of you, and do it as well as you can, and new opportunities will present themselves,’” Bishop Barron said in a 2019 interview.
Bishop Barron was in a liturgy class taught by the future Cardinal Gregory, and he still draws upon the practical and theoretical insights he learned then about the Mass. He said Cardinal Gregory is man of deep prayer who is “a man of the people” with a common touch and a good sense of humor.
Archbishop Gregory was well loved in Chicago as a priest and bishop, said Bishop Barron, who was ordained to the priesthood for that archdiocese in 1986 by Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. The Los Angeles auxiliary bishop said Cardinal Bernardin’s qualities of “kindness, the ability to reconcile opposing parties, and a deep pastoral sensibility” have shaped the ministry of Archbishop Gregory, who worked with the cardinal as an auxiliary bishop.
“Wilton has always been a bridge builder, a reconciler,” with a thorough understanding of Catholic teaching and tradition, Bishop Barron said.
In a 2016 column for the Georgia Bulletin newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta marking the 20th anniversary of Cardinal Bernardin’s death, then-Archbishop Gregory wrote that he “was my pastor, my mentor, my friend and brother.”
Cardinal Gregory has a special connection to new Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Birmingham. In 1984, then-Auxiliary Bishop Gregory confirmed him at Our Lady of the Ridge Parish in Chicago Ridge, Illinois.
After his Confirmation in 1984, Kevin Birmingham – a future auxiliary bishop of Chicago – stands with then-Chicago Auxiliary Bishop and future Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who confirmed him. At right is Bishop Birmingham’s mother, Jeanette. (Courtesy photo)
Bishop Birmingham remembered how his pastor then told students in his Confirmation class that they were lucky to get Bishop Gregory, whom he described as “a true pastor with a big heart.”
“As an eighth grader, I remember becoming more excited about meeting this bishop than about the actual Confirmation itself. When the day came, Bishop Gregory was larger than life and a true pastor with gentle good humor engaging us in his homily,” he said.
The bishop, who directs the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Department for Parish Vitality and Mission, praised the elevation of Cardinal Gregory, saying, “The church is getting another great pastor and shepherd as a cardinal. I admire his pastoral presence, skilled communication styles, his discerning ear, his good judgment and moral conviction.”
And Bishop Birmingham, who was ordained as a bishop in November, the same month that Cardinal Gregory became a cardinal, said he is proud of his connection to him, noting he reflects Pope Francis’s image of a good pastor close to his people. “I can now brag that I was confirmed by a cardinal… And not just any cardinal, a cardinal who has proven himself to smell like the sheep,” he said.
Bishop Kevin Birmingham (Archdiocese of Chicago photo)
