Cardinal Wilton Gregory: ‘He never forgot where he came from’
CHICAGO — Wilton Gregory wasn’t raised Catholic and didn’t come to the faith until he was in sixth grade attending a Catholic grammar school. Now, he’ll serve as one of the top leaders of the global Catholic church community after being named a cardinal by Pope Francis.
The Chicago native was one of 13 church leaders around the world to be named to the role by Pope Francis Oct. 25. With this appointment, Gregory also becomes the first Black American cardinal.
Gregory, 72, began his religious career in the Chicago suburbs. He attended and later returned to teach at a seminary in Mundelein, served as a deacon in a Park Ridge parish and had his first official assignment as a priest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview.
“One thing I love about Wilton is he never forgot where he came from,” said the Rev. Jeremiah Boland, current pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Bright-eyed and newly ordained in 1973, Gregory served as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which would end up being his only parish assignment as a priest. He left after three years to pursue a doctorate and begin teaching, but he often describes his experience in that role as being influential, according to Boland.
“You can study in school all about what it means to be a priest, but it’s not until you actually get into a parish that you get a sense of what your mission is,” Boland said. “He really poured his heart and soul into the parish.”
Gregory has continued to keep in touch with and ask about many Glenview parishioners over the years, Boland said, and last September he returned to Our Lady of Perpetual Help for a block party and Mass to kick off the church’s centennial year.
“It was like a family reunion,” Boland said. “People were just so happy to see him.”
Boland was one of Gregory’s first students when he started teaching in the late 1970s. He said Gregory showed him and his fellow classmates that priests can “really make a difference” and served as a great mentor to them during their formative years.
More personally, Boland and Gregory also spent time together because their mothers lived across the hall from each other for several years at Holy Family Villa in Palos Park. According to Boland, the two mothers used to jokingly banter about their sons — Boland’s mother saying she had two sons as priests, Gregory’s mother saying her son was a bishop.
“She won,” he said with a laugh, noting Gregory’s newest appointment. “She won the duel.”
Now, Gregory is the first Black man in the United States to be named a cardinal, which Boland said is a “great moment of recognition” for the African American community within the church.
According to Boland, Gregory has been an important voice within the church over the years, serving as the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and working to make repairs in the church amid the large sexual abuse crisis. In recent months, he’s also been influential in the national discussion on racism.
“He’s not shied away from his advocacy of justice and civil rights,” Boland said. “We really need someone like him with that kind of platform as a cardinal.”
In addition to his newest promotion, other positions over the years included Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, Bishop of Belleville, Archbishop of Atlanta and, most recently last year, Archbishop of Washington D.C.
Gregory attended Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein prior to becoming ordained in 1973. The very Rev. Thomas Baima, the provost for University of Saint Mary of the Lake, said he was not in seminary during Gregory’s time, but he was in the very first class Gregory taught during his time on the seminary’s faculty from 1977 to 1984.
Prior to meeting Gregory, Baima had heard he was “such a nice man, and so easy to relate to.” Upon meeting him, he found him to be fair-minded in his academic work. Gregory’s area of expertise is liturgy, which Baima said was a subject people had a variety of opinions and views on. As his student, Baima said he was most impressed with Gregory’s ability to not get caught in those kinds of preferences, and acted as a good reminder to always try to make the liturgy readily understood by everyone.
Baima said Gregory helped teach him that it wasn’t about him, but rather the congregation he was serving.
“As a student, I also had certain preferences and a certain kind of style I was looking for,” Baima said. “And he always challenged me to get off of my preferences and realize that as a parish minister, I had to be addressing the congregation that was in front of me.”
On his promotion, Baima said they always expected Gregory to make significant contributions to the church. He added that Gregory always has had the desire to make a positive impact, and make a difference. As Gregory has obtained more promotions, Baima said there hasn’t been much surprise based on Gregory’s character and background.
“I don’t think anyone was surprised with any of his appointments along the way,” Baima said. “He will bring some unique gifts to his assistance of the Holy Father at the international level.”
Before his ordination as a priest, Gregory started his religious service as a deacon at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Catholic Church in Park Ridge.
“We like to say he got his start here,” Mary Gebhardt, a longtime parishioner of the church, said with a laugh.
Gebhardt recalled how Gregory’s musical talent was revealed during a church variety show in the early 1970s.
“Supposedly, he was going to sing like Johnny Mathis. It came down to almost the dress rehearsal, but nobody had heard him yet,” Gebhardt said. “Then, when he showed up for the dress rehearsal, he sang ‘On a Clear Day,’ a Johnny Mathis song. When he got up and sang, you could hear a pin drop. He had the most beautiful voice.”
Gebhardt said she and other parishioners followed Gregory’s career in the years after he left Mary, Seat of Wisdom. When Gregory was archbishop of Atlanta, a friend of Gebhardt’s who lived there would report back to her about his work, she said.
“He was a great man — he is a great man,” Gebhardt said.
Bob Hicks, a Glenview resident and a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help for more than 50 years, has also been following Gregory’s career through the years.
When Gregory arrived there in 1973, Hicks said they became “steadfast friends.” Gregory performed the marriage of one of Hicks’ daughters, and they’ve stayed in contact over the years. According to Hicks, many parishioners would have similar sentiments and stories because of Gregory’s heavy involvement in the church, as well as his infectious smile and dynamic personality.
“He’s a man for all people,” he said. “When you first meet him and he meets you, it’s just like you’ve known him all his life and he’s known you.”
Hicks said he and the rest of the parish were thrilled to hear of Gregory’s new recognition, and they’re excited to have been part of his history and his early development as a person and as a priest.
“He had this as his foundation, so we played a little role, and we’re proud of the man that he is,” he said. “You just cannot say nicer things about him.”