Cardinal Wilton Daniel Gregory, the former Archbishop of Washington D.C., is a progressive prelate and the Church’s first African American cardinal, known for his social justice work especially when it comes to issues of race, same-sex relations, and for his efforts to combat clerical sex abuse.

Born on December 7, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, Gregory is the oldest of three children whose parents later divorced. His journey in the Catholic Church began when he converted at the age of eleven as he was impressed by the priests and teachers at his Catholic grammar school and knew then that he wanted to be a priest.

Gregory’s path to priesthood started with his education at Niles College and Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary. He was ordained a priest on May 9, 1973, at the age of 25 and, after serving as an associate pastor, he pursued further studies and earned a doctorate in sacred liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome in 1980.

Gregory’s ascent in the Church hierarchy was marked by several significant appointments. In 1983, at the age of 36, he became the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States when he was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. He later served as Bishop of Belleville from 1994 to 2004, and as Archbishop of Atlanta from 2005 to 2019.

One of Gregory’s most notable achievements was his election as the first African American president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2001. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in addressing the sexual abuse scandal in the U.S. Catholic Church, leading the USCCB in issuing the 2002 “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” which established a zero-tolerance policy for priests and deacons who sexually abused minors.

Although the Charter had its weaknesses, then-Bishop Gregory’s leadership was widely praised and he was recognized for his ability to engage with survivors, sincerely apologize, and work towards healing and accountability within the Church.

Cardinal Gregory served on several USCCB committees and was known for writing extensively on various Church issues. His tenure as USCCB President was marked by efforts to improve the religious life of African American Catholics and address important social and moral issues facing the Church in the United States.

In April 2019, Pope Francis appointed Gregory Archbishop of Washington, succeeding Cardinal Donald Wuerl. The following autumn, Pope Francis elevated Gregory to cardinal, making him the first African American to reach this position in the Catholic Church.

In 2024, Cardinal Gregory received Rector’s Award at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Throughout his career, Gregory was known for his work on racial issues within the Church and society at large. In 1984, he co-authored a pastoral letter on evangelism that addressed the unique history of Black Catholics in the United States. The three-page tract asserted that 1.5 million black Catholics in the United States had a unique history which required understanding and culturally sensitive strategies to achieve successful evangelization. In 1987, he published another tract entitled, “The Spirit and Truth: Black Catholic Reflections on the Order of the Mass” that focused on liturgical accommodations.

Cardinal Gregory’s views on social issues also closely align with those of Pope Francis. On homosexuality, Gregory has stated that LGBTQ Catholics are welcome in the Church, but that the Church has its rules and teachings on these matters that must be respected.

The cardinal has also been a strong advocate of action on climate change, encouraging students to confront the scientific theory in their daily lives and future careers, and launching a “Laudato Si’” action plan for the Archdiocese of Washington to combat climate change through education and practical steps.

In addition, Gregory has embraced Pope Francis’ emphasis on synodality, praising the synodal process for allowing people to speak honestly about their hopes and concerns for the Church. He has said he sees synodality as a way to understand “the heart of the Church.”

On migration, Cardinal Gregory has called for bipartisan immigration reform and emphasized the Church’s support for immigrants. He views this as an important issue for the Church to address.

However, he has been no stranger to controversy. In 2014, Gregory faced criticism for constructing a $2.2 million residence in Atlanta. He subsequently apologized and agreed to sell the property.

During the election campaign in 2024, the cardinal made headlines when he was critical of Catholic politicians such as President Biden who support abortion rights while claiming to be devout Catholics. He described this as “cafeteria Catholicism” where people pick and choose which teachings to follow. However, Gregory said he would not deny Communion to Biden over this issue, preferring dialogue instead.

His criticisms of President Trump were more frequent and vociferous, partly because they were made in the context of rioting and racial tensions that followed police involvement in the death of George Floyd, a black man, in 2020. Gregory strongly criticized Trump’s visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine during that time, calling it “baffling and reprehensible” that a Catholic facility would allow itself to be “so egregiously misused and manipulated.”

Gregory also asserted that Trump’s rhetoric had “deepened divisions and diminished our national life” and compared his public criticisms of Trump to clergy who marched in the civil rights movement. Critics said Gregory’s criticisms of Trump were unseemly partisan attacks on the President at a time when the country desperately needed healing and unity.

Following Pope Francis’ apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes, Cardinal Gregory took significant steps to strictly limit the celebration of the Vetus Ordo in the Archdiocese of Washington — an area where the old-rite Mass was relatively prevalent and popular, and growing in popularity. The cardinal said that allowing the old form of the Mass is an “exception” and that the post-Vatican II Mass should be “the dominant rite.” Asked why students had no access to the Traditional Latin Mass at Catholic University of America, the cardinal said, “Tradition dies a slow, sometimes bloody death.”

Throughout his career, Cardinal Wilton Gregory has sought to break racial barriers in the Catholic Church while addressing challenging issues such as sexual abuse and racial injustice, but he has also been no stranger to criticism and controversy.

On January 6, 2025, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted Cardinal Gregory’s resignation as Archbishop of Washington and appointed as his successor Cardinal Robert Walter McElroy, transferring him to the U.S. capital from the diocese of San Diego.

Three weeks after the announcement of Gregory’s retirement, he gave a talk to members of the LGBTQ community at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., telling them how “ashamed” he was over the Church’s “increasingly harsh treatment of one another—rejecting people because of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origins, or any other distinctions.”

Gregory spoke particularly of “our LGBTQ brothers and sisters” saying the “way we have treated” them “has brought them tears and too many of us disgrace. 

“I apologize from the heart for the hurt that has resulted in the loss of so many of our family members who belong to God no less than I do,” he said. “I apologize not only for those whose past actions have scandalized and wounded these men and women. I apologize for my own lack of courage to bring healing and hope, and I ask forgiveness.”

Cardinal Gregory is known to speak both English and Spanish.