⁍ Wilton Gregory, who was among 13 new cardinals named by Pope Francis on Sunday, was installed as the first Black archbishop of Washington, D.C. in 2019.

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⁍ Pope Francis on Sunday said Gregory was picked with others from Rwanda, the Philippines and elsewhere to wear the revered red cap.

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⁍ An outspoken civil rights advocate, Gregory has addressed the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes in May.

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– Pope Francis has named the first black cardinal from the US, Reuters reports. Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, DC, was one of 13 new cardinals named by the pontiff on Sunday. Gregory, 73, will be installed as the first black archbishop of Washington, DC, next month. Gregory was also the first African-American to be named as a cardinal by the US Catholic Church, the AP reports. The other new cardinals are from Rwanda, the Philippines, and elsewhere. Gregory, who will turn 73 next month, has made headlines in the past for criticizing President Trump’s visit to a Washington church in June, when police used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear protesters so Trump could be photographed holding up a Bible. “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we might disagree,” Gregory said in a statement before Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. Gregory has been a leader in addressing the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals and shoring up the church’s zero-tolerance policy. The naming of the first African-American cardinal from the United States gives us an opportunity to pause and offer thanks for the many gifts African-American Catholics have given the Church,” Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement.