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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., has been named by Pope John Paul II to head the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He will replace Archbishop John F. Donoghue, whose retirement was accepted by the pope Dec. 9. Archbishop Gregory was president of the USCCB during a turbulent time for the U.S. church, as the bishops dealt with the clergy sexual abuse crisis. It was perhaps one of the most difficult periods in the conference's history. Under his leadership, the bishops adopted a set of norms for handling accusations of abuse by priests and other church personnel; established a lay board to review how cases have been handled; commissioned an extensive analysis of the factors involved in the crisis; and created a staff office to oversee those efforts. When he was first elected in 2001, much of the attention to Bishop Gregory focused on the fact that he was the first African-American to head the conference. One of nine active U.S. black bishops, he will be the third African-American to be named archbishop of Atlanta. His installation is scheduled for Jan. 17, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Archbishop Gregory is a native of Chicago, born Dec. 7, 1947. Though not raised as a Catholic, his parents enrolled him at St. Carthage Catholic School for the sixth grade. Within weeks he had decided he wanted to be a Catholic and by the end of the school year he had been baptized, made his first Communion and been confirmed. He graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, Niles College of Loyola University and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. After his ordination May 9, 1973, he obtained a doctorate in sacred liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome. Then-Father Gregory served in the Archdiocese of Chicago in various positions before being named an auxiliary bishop there in 1983. He was installed as head of the Diocese of Belleville, Ill., next to the Archdiocese of St. Louis, on Feb. 10, 1994. The Archdiocese of Atlanta includes 69 counties in the northern part of Georgia. It has about 371,000 Catholics in a total population of nearly 6 million. Reprinted with the permission of Catholic News Service |
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