Wilton Daniel Gregory
Template:Infobox bishopbiog Wilton Daniel Gregory (born December 7, 1947) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Atlanta, having previously served as Bishop of Belleville, Illinois from 1993 to 2004 .
In late October 2007 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and had surgery in November of that same year.
Biography
He was born in Chicago to Wilton and Ethel (née Duncan) Gregory.[1] Attending Catholic schools in Chicago, he became attracted to the priesthood before he converted to Catholicism, which he did at age 11.[citation needed] He studied at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Niles College, and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary before being ordained as a priest on May 9, 1973 by John Cardinal Cody.
After receiving a doctorate in Sacred Liturgy in 1980 from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome, Gregory did pastoral work in Glenview at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, taught at Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary, and served as a Master of Ceremonies under Cardinals Cody and Bernardin. On October 31, 1983 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago and Titular Bishop of Oliva. Gregory received his episcopal consecration on the following December 13 from Cardinal Bernardin, with Bishops Alfred Abramowicz and Nevin Hayes, O. Carm, serving as co-consecrators. He remained in Chicago until December 29, 1993, when he was appointed the seventh Bishop of Belleville; he was installed on February 10, 1994. Pope John Paul II named Gregory the seventh Archbishop of Atlanta on December 9 2004, and his installation took place on January 17, 2005.
From 2001 to 2004, Gregory served as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the first African American ever to head an episcopal conference, having previously served as Vice President and also Chairman of several committees. During his presidency, the American bishops issued the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" in response to sexual abuse cases. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at The Catholic University of America. In April 2005 in recognition of his handling of the sex abuse scandal, he was chosen Time magazine's Person of the Week.[2]
He writes a bi-weekly column for the Georgia Bulletin titled What I have Seen and Heard [3].
Recognition
He has been awarded honorary doctorates of humane letters from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Xavier University in Cincinnati, and McKendree University in Lebanon, and doctorates in humanities from Lewis University in Romeoville and Saint Louis University in St. Louis.