October 26, 2020
Dear Members of the University Community,It is with great joy that I share the news that our Chancellor, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, will become the first African American Cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis announced on Sunday his intent to give Gregory the Cardinal’s hat at a consistory on November 28.
Archbishop Gregory has served in several key leadership positions in the Church. From 2001 to 2004 he served as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. During that time he led the bishops’ meeting in 2002 that drafted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. He was the archbishop of Atlanta before coming to Washington in 2019.
In the wake of the death of George Floyd this past summer, Archbishop Gregory encouraged us “to examine our own attitudes and actions in order to seek conversion from sin and turn our hearts towards Christ in order to end personal and structural racism.”
We are proud of our Chancellor; we pray for his safe travels to Rome and many years as a leader in the Church and our University.
Sincerely,
John Garvey