Gregory installed as archbishop of Atlanta

<p>On the same day the nation honored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the first black leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was installed as archbishop in King's native city.</p><p>Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, a Chicago native, became on Monday Atlanta's sixth archbishop and its third black archbishop. He succeeds Archbishop John F. Donoghue, who is resigning because of his age.</p><p>Gregory said he chose the King holiday for the ceremony as a tribute to the slain civil rights leader. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, was on hand for Gregory's installation at the Georgia International Convention Center.</p><p>"We gather in prayer and festive joy on Dr. King's memorial day and in a city that holds a special place among all American cities that reverence this great man's legacy," Gregory told the crowd of about 8,000.</p><p>The 57-year-old archbishop smiled and nodded in appreciation as the mostly Catholic crowd applauded thunderously.</p><p>After a 30-minute processional of congratulation, in which Gov. Sonny Perdue took part, Gregory addressed his flock for the first time. Speaking first in Spanish, he told the crowd he was eager to work in the increasingly diverse population he represents.</p><p>He also reminded the Latino members of the congregation that they will not be forgotten during his tenure.</p><p>"I want you to know that you are always close to the heart of this local church and to the heart of its new archbishop," he said in Spanish.</p><p>Gregory was the first black president of the bishops conference when he was elected in November 2001. At the time, his election was seen by black Catholics as long-awaited recognition of their presence in the church.</p><p>But the clergy sex abuse scandal quickly eclipsed Gregory's historic elevation in the bishops conference. Gregory led the bishops through nothing short of a revolution in their approach to abuse. They now have a binding policy on how to respond to allegations that includes barring offenders from church work and a national lay watchdog panel to help enforce the plan.</p><p>Before coming to Atlanta, Gregory had been serving as bishop in Belleville, Ill. He leaves the diocese in rural southern Illinois to become head of an archdiocese with 98 parishes and missions that has doubled in size since 1990 to more than 370,000 members.</p><p>Analysts say that appointing a black bishop to a city like Atlanta, with its rich history of clergy activism and its significant black community, will help draw attention to Catholic diversity.</p><p>The two other black archbishops of the Atlanta archdiocese were Bishop Eugene Marino _ who was also the first black archbishop in the United States _ and Archbishop James P. Lyke, both deceased.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>Archdiocese of Atlanta: www.archatl.com/</p>

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