Pope names first African-American to highest US Catholic post
Chicago-born Wilton Gregory, 71, the former archbishop of Atlanta, is also likely to become a cardinal
Vatican City — Pope Francis has named the first African-American to the Catholic Church’s most senior US position, seeking to end a period of upheaval in a job whose previous two occupants were caught in sexual abuse scandals. Former Atlanta archbishop Wilton Gregory, 71, was made the new head of the church in Washington DC and is also likely to become a cardinal eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the next pope after Francis. He would be the first African-American to hold the rank of cardinal too. Gregory, who converted to Catholicism as a teenager, is considered a progressive who prefers dialogue and has largely shunned the US church’s often strident culture wars over issues such as abortion and homosexuality. The Washington position is the most influential for the church in the US because of its proximity to national political power. Past holders have been confidants of American presidents, foreign diplomats and educational leaders. Gregory's immediate predecessor, Cardinal D...
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