In ‘watershed moment,’ Catholic Cardinal apologizes for church treatment of LGBTQ+ people

In what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind event, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who has served since 2019 as leader of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., held a Jan. 22 prayer service for members of the local LGBTQ Catholic organization Dignity Washington.

The service, which is like a Catholic mass but doesn’t include the offering of holy communion, took place at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.

Dignity Washington officials said the event came about after they met with Gregory at his diocesan office in September and he agreed to their invitation for him to hold a religious service for the local LGBTQ community.

Dignity Washington President Vince Rodriguez told the Washington Blade he and fellow Dignity members were honored and moved that Gregory went beyond just holding the service by offering an apology for the way the church has treated LGBTQ people.

“There is no room for religious bigotry that is largely fueled by lack of knowledge and ignorance on the part of peoples who may call themselves religious but whose behavior violates the basic tenets of most of the great faith traditions of the world,” Gregory said in written remarks that he read as part of his homily or sermon at the prayer service.

“I apologize for my own failure to emulate Christ’s compassion,” he stated in his remarks. “The way that we have treated our LGBTQ brothers and sisters has brought them tears and to many of us disgrace,” he told those attending the service.

“I apologize from the heart for the hurt that has resulted in the loss of so many of our family members who belong to God no less than I do,” he said.

“I apologize not only for those whose past actions have scandalized and wounded these men and women. I apologize for my own lack of courage to bring healing and hope, and I ask forgiveness,” Gregory said in concluding his remarks. 

“It was very powerful, very moving,” according to Rodriguez, who said about 80 mostly Dignity members attended the prayer service on a cold night.

Peter Daly, a retired Catholic priest and Dignity Washington member, said that due to an oversight by someone in the archdiocesan office, the office did not contact Dignity to inform the group that the service had been scheduled for Jan. 22 until just under two weeks before that date. He said Dignity officials scrambled to get the word out in time for people to make plans to attend.

“And it turned out to be a wonderful service,” Daly told the Blade. “His homily was exceptional. I’ve never heard an archbishop or a cardinal, and I’ve heard a lot of them, say and offer an apology not only on behalf of himself but on behalf of the church and other hierarchs for the way the LGBTQ community has been treated,” Daly said.

“I think Cardinal Gregory’s remarks are a watershed moment in the relationship between the Archdiocese of Washington and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Jeannine Gramick, a Catholic nun and official with the local LGBTQ Catholic group New Ways Ministry.

“I am hopeful this will set an example for other bishops to embrace Dignity communities across the U.S.,” she told the Blade. “Dignity was the first group in the world to organize and speak up for their rights as baptized LGBTQ+ Catholics.”

Pope Francis on Jan. 6 named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who has a record of support for the LGBTQ community, to replace Cardinal Gregory, who is retiring, as the next Archbishop of Washington, D.C, which is the official title of the Catholic Church leader of the D.C. archdiocese.

McElroy is scheduled to be installed in his new position at a March 11 ceremony at D.C.’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. 

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