DC archdiocese installs first African-American archbishop

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. installed its first African-American archbishop on Tuesday.

Pope Francis named Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory the new archbishop for the nation’s capital in April.

{mosads}Gregory replaces Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who was forced to resign last year after he was implicated in a grand jury investigation in covering up abuse at a string of Pennsylvania churches.

Wuerl’s predecessor, Theodore McCarrick, was defrocked after an internal investigation found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adults during his tenure, marking the first time a cardinal was cast out of the church for abuse.

Gregory became the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2001, and shortly after adopted a “zero-tolerance” abuse policy to respond to sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.

He has served as Atlanta’s archbishop since 2005.