Former Belleville Diocese Bishop Wilton Gregory gets elevated to Cardinal status at the Vatican in Rome on Saturday.
Wilton and others scheduled to get their red hats are sequestering ahead of the event due to COVID-19. A handful are in protective coronavirus quarantine, confined to their rooms on Vatican orders and getting meals delivered to their doors. The 10-day quarantines, with COVID-19 tests administered at the start and finish, are just one example of how Saturday’s meeting to elevate new cardinals in the time of coronavirus is like nothing the Holy See has ever seen. Cardinal-designate Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, the retired archbishop of Chiapas, Mexico, said the Vatican had told him he’d have to quarantine but he didn’t think it would be so strict.
Gregory will become the first Black cardinal from the United States. In an interview with The Associated Press, he made clear that an array of social issues will be high on his agenda. He hopes the U.S. bishop’s conference can broaden its concept of “pro-life” so other pressing issues can be considered top priorities along with opposition to abortion.
Gregory has also endorsed proposals to include the history of Black Catholics in the U.S. as part of the curriculum in Catholic schools. Earlier this year, amid nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice, some Black Catholics said the curriculum should be more honest about the church’s past links to slavery and segregation.
Wilton served the Belleville Diocese for ten years starting in 1993. He has most recently served as Archbishop of the Washington D.C. Diocese.
