Cardinal Gregory’s homily when he was installed as our archbishop six years ago has stuck with me ever since. The gospel at that Mass was the story of Jesus calming the storm, and Cardinal Gregory’s message was:
“Jesus is in the boat with us.”
As I look back over Cardinal Gregory’s time as our wonderful shepherd, I clearly see that he was also in the boat with us these last six years. We have been blessed by his leadership and pastoral care, and I personally have very much enjoyed working with him.
Many of us were surprised to hear that Pope Francis had accepted his resignation, which Cardinal Gregory was required to submit when he turned 75 two years ago. We never know when a bishop’s resignation will be accepted, and we learned on Jan. 6 that Pope Francis had done so while also appointing Cardinal Robert McElroy from San Diego as his successor.
Cardinal Gregory and I are the same age. We were both ordained in 1973 within about a month of each other. I have had great respect for him from the time I learned of him as a young priest. He has a doctorate in liturgy and became known as someone to look to for liturgical guidance and support in celebrating the Eucharist and all the sacraments in the most effective and prayerful ways.
I watched his ministry through the years, particularly the great impact he had in Dallas as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the height of the sex abuse crisis. That conference issued the “Charter for the Protection of Young People,” also called the Dallas Charter, with the groundbreaking policies and procedures remaining in place today.
I always respected Cardinal Gregory, was thrilled when he came here, and have been blessed to get to know him and come to love him. I love his calmness, pastoral zeal and the way he leads with great patience but also great strength. I can tell you that he is respected by the priests in our archdiocese, as well as all who have witnessed his ability to bring forth a pastoral love for Jesus in all he does.
I personally benefitted from Cardinal Gregory’s wise counsel. I served as president and CEO of Catholic Charities for most of his time here, and he supported me, guided me and watched over our decisions. I also admired how he spoke out strongly on social justice issues.
The cardinal’s pastoral side and care for those in need were evident as he came to as many of our events as possible. He met with and encouraged our clients, and he helped us celebrate the great work of Catholic Charities, which I am thrilled continues today thanks to the outstanding staff, volunteers and leadership of Jim Malloy.
I appreciated Cardinal Gregory’s open-door policy with priests. From the very beginning of his time here, he set aside time every week to meet with priests who needed his help or wanted to talk. All we had to do was call and make that appointment, and he gladly met in person or by Zoom to assist and guide in any way he could.
I must say that I particularly love his laugh. He has a great laugh that flows easily from his strong sense of humor. He will tell you himself that he loves to laugh, accepting that we all make mistakes but still seeing the goodness and joy of life.
And I love that Cardinal Gregory is my friend. We are not close friends in the sense that we spend a lot of time together, but I know he cares about me, and I care about him. Having an archbishop who is a pastor, shepherd and friend is a tremendous gift that many of us have enjoyed.
I will miss Cardinal Gregory, his leadership, and the loving way he guided and led our diocese. He is a mentor, a friend and a spiritual guide, and those blessings are hard to replace.
At the same time, I am thrilled that Cardinal Gregory plans to stay in the area. I heard him speak recently, and he told us that the Washington area is now his home. I wondered if he might go back to Chicago or Belleville in Illinois or possibly Atlanta, but we are blessed that he will remain a part of our presbyterate and archdiocese. He even talked about helping priests in different parishes when they need assistance, which is not surprising to those of us who know him.
Thank you, Cardinal Gregory, for being the man you are, the priest you are, and the bishop you are. We have been blessed by your example and your commitment to the people and priests of our archdiocese. May God bless you in your retirement as richly as he has blessed those of us who benefitted from your leadership and love.
We are glad you and Jesus are in the boat with us.
(Msgr. John Enzler serves as the mission advocate of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a chaplain at his alma mater, St. John’s College High School in Washington. He writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
