Archbishop Gregory Returns to Belleville to Testify

Wilton D. Gregory, who led the Belleville Diocese for 11 years until he was installed as archbishop of Atlanta in January, returned to Belleville on Friday to give a deposition in a defamation case brought by a priest from Ava, Ill.

Gregory is not a defendant in the suit, which was filed in circuit court in Belleville in 2003 by the Rev. Leo J. Hayes, the pastor of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church. Hayes' attorney, Canice Timothy Rice Jr., had sought to have Gregory held in contempt of court until Gregory agreed in July to return to Belleville for a deposition.

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