First African American cardinal named

ROME: Wilton Gregory, who blasted President

Donald Trump’s photo opportunity hoisting a Bible at a Washington church after police used tear gas to clear demonstrators in June, has become the first African American cardinal.

Gregory (73), an outspoken civil rights advocate who was installed as the first black archbishop of Washington DC in 2019, was among 13 new cardinals named by Pope Francis yesterday.

Leading Catholic organisations cheered the choice. Pope Francis was sending a clear message ‘‘in the midst of our nation’s reckoning in systemic racism, as millions assert that Black Lives Matter’’, executive director of Catholic peace and justice organisation Pax Christi USA Johnny Zokovitch said. — Reuters