Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The Archdiocese of Washington is hoping to move forward past the clergy sexual abuse scandal with the help of a new leader. Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory will be installed during a special mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine Tuesday. Gregory takes over for Cardinal Donald Wuerl who resigned after a grand jury report implicated him in covering up child sexual abuse when he was bishop of Pittsburgh. Wuerl served as Archbishop of Washington from 2006 to 2018.
Wuerl’s predecessor Theodore McCarrick – who served as the archdiocese’s archbishop from 2001 to 2006 – was defrocked for sexual abuse in February of 2019 after a canonical process found him guilty of soliciting sex during confession and committing sins with minors and adults.
Gregory served as the Archbishop of Atlanta for 14 years starting in 2005. He also headed the U.S. bishops conference when it adopted a “zero-tolerance” abuse policy in 2002.
During a press conference in April Gregory said he wanted to offer members of the Archdiocese of Washington hope and promised to rebuild their trust.
“I can not undo the past, but I sincerely believe that together we will not merely address the moments where we’ve fallen short or failed outright, but we will model for all the life and teaching of our lord Jesus Christ,” Gregory said.
Gregory will officially take the leadership role as the Archbishop for the Archdiocese of Washington during a mass Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the air, and we’re just so happy to welcome our new archbishop, and we know that the faithful are feeling the same way,” said archdiocese spokesperson Chieko Noguchi.
During Tuesday’s installation mass, a decree from Pope Francis will be read and then a representative for the Pope will ask Gregory if accepts the assignment. Once he does, he is given the crosier, which Noguchi said looks like a shepherd’s staff and shows that he is the new shepherd for Washington. At that moment, he becomes the new archbishop.
Noguchi said they expect close to 50 bishops and hundreds of priests to attend the mass as well as members of the public.
The procession starts at 1:30 p.m. followed by the mass at 2. People who can’t make it can watch a livestream here.
Sunday morning there will be a Thanksgiving mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, which is the mother church of the archdiocese. It starts at 10.
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