Pope Francis Names Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta as New Archbishop of Washington

April 4, 2019

WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has named the Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory as the new Archbishop of Washington. The appointment was publicized in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2019 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. 

Archbishop Wilton Gregory, 71, was born on December 7, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Saint Mary at  Mundelein Seminary, and completed his doctorate in sacred liturgy in 1980 at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (Sant’ Anselmo) in Rome. 

He was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973. On December 13, 1983, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Chicago. He was then installed as bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, IL on February 10, 1994. Pope John Paull II appointed him as the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He was installed on January 17, 2005. 

Archbishop Gregory served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from Nov. 2001 to 2004, following three years as USCCB vice president. Under his leadership, the USCCB implemented the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” He also previously served on other committees including the Committee on Doctrine, Liturgy, Administrative, and International Policy and also as Chairman of the Bishops’ Committees on Personnel and the Third Millennium/Jubilee Year 2000.

On October 12, 2018, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, 78, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Washington. 

Cardinal Wuerl had presented his resignation almost three years ago, when he reached the retirement age for bishops of 75.  Upon acceptance of his resignation, Pope Francis named Cardinal Wuerl as apostolic administrator to oversee the archdiocese until a successor was named. Cardinal Wuerl served as archbishop of Washington from 2006 to 2018.

The Archdiocese of Washington is comprised of 2,104 square miles and has a total population of 2,994,625 of which 658,818 or 22 percent, are Catholic.   

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Pope Francis, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory , Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, Archdiocese of Washington, Archdioce of Atlanta

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Judy Keane
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