Wilton, 73, who is the D.C. archbishop, was picked by Francis to lead the prestigious diocese in the U.S. capital last year. The prelate, who was born in Chicago, has his pulse on factions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which has both strong conservative and liberal veins since he served three times as the head of the U.S. Conference of Bishops.
Pope Francis on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Chicago-native Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red hat. Wilton,73, was born in Chicago and ordained a priest here in 1973. After he served as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, as a faculty member at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein and as a master of ceremonies to Cardinals John Cody and Joseph Bernardin, in 1983, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop in Chicago. In 1994, he was installed as the bishop of Belleville. Ten years later, he was appointed bishop of Atlanta. Then in 2019, he was named bishop of Washington, D.C. The prelate has his pulse on factions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which has both strong conservative and liberal veins since he served three times as the head of the U.
