Bishop Hying: Remembering Cardinal George

Note: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago died three years ago today. At that time, Bishop Donald Hying wrote a personal reflection on his life for Cream City Catholic. We thought it’d be a good time to repost it.

The death of Cardinal George marks a deep loss for the Catholic Church in the United States. His combination of a keen intellect, deep humility, profound interior life and joyful generosity made him a leader that we could always look to for insight and inspiration. I had met Cardinal George several times tangentially—at airports, special Masses and even once stuck in a prolonged traffic jam on an Indiana freeway! I got to know him better when I became a bishop and was blessed to interact with him at Bishops Conference meetings, retreats and the 2012 Ad Limina visit to Rome.

continue to Cream City Catholic

Photo: Chicago Tribune

Archbishop Cupich blesses Cardinal George's grave stone at Des Plaines cemetery

The final resting place for most of Chicago's Catholic archbishops is at the Bishops' Mausoleum at Mount Carmel Cemetery in West suburban Hillside.

But Cardinal Francis George, the only native Chicagoan to serve as the city's archbishop, is buried alongside family members at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines.

It's where George came as a boy to pray at his grandmother's gravesite. Now, he rests beside her and his parents.

A year after the cardinal's death, a new memorial ledger stone marking his grave was dedicated and blessed Thursday by his successor, Archbishop Blase Cupich, during a small ceremony attended by family, friends and the public.

"He is a Chicagoan, and was very proud of that, but I also think it sends a message that his vocation sprung up in that family," Cupich said.

continue at DailyHerald

What a beautiful man.

Canons of St. John Cantius pray at grave of Cardinal George on one year anniversary of his death

Today we prayed at the grave of Francis Cardinal George (January 16, 1937 – April 17, 2015). #GoodShepherdSunday pic.twitter.com/trDPRxEPPt

— St John Cantius (@SJCantius) April 18, 2016

As someone noted on Twitter, I presume the Cathedral doesn't have a crypt chapel to bury their bishops.

Zmirak: Cardinal George and the Denethor Option

The first part of Francis Cardinal George’s prophecy, or warning, or cautionary tale, has just come true. As some will recall,Cardinal George warned a group of priests that he expected that he would “die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

That great and good man has indeed died in his bed. After many years of fearless, compassionate witness to the truth of Jesus Christ, and years of suffering with illness, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago has gone to his last reward. One of the brightest flowers to bloom during the long Catholic spring we enjoyed under popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, his words and deeds embodied the best of the Christian tradition, that inextricable tapestry of fidelity and freedom. Without fidelity to the fatherhood of God, freedom is a bleak and empty, sterile exercise, as shallow and adolescent as the cartoons of Charlie Hebdo. Without freedom, acts of fidelity are not one whit more pleasing to God than marches on May Day in Stalin’s Moscow.

Cardinal George was a stirring example of what English writer Evelyn Waugh foresaw as the “American moment” in the Catholic Church. He carried on the tradition of Charles Carroll, Orestes Brownson, John Courtenay Murray, and Fulton J. Sheen, who each in his own way despoiled the Egyptians—took for Christ’s Church the best and highest and purest that the secular world could offer. For these men, as for George, what they took were the political truths that inspired the founding of a deeply virtuous Republic, the United States of America, where the Church could live and thrive under much more wholesome conditions, with fewer degrading temptations, than under the so-called Christian monarchies that trammeled the Church with favors, which she too often was tempted to accept in place of her freedom. Here on these shores we were offered no mess of pottage, and so we could keep our birthright. That is now what we’ll have to fight for.

continue at Nomocracy in Politics

John Zmirak aka, the counterweight.

John Zmirak is now on Twitter, BTW.

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“Jerry, I am more surprised than you are.”

Then bishop of La Crosse visits India

From the concluding reflection Abp. Listecki gives on his 40 years in the priesthood.

When we were alone, Cardinal Francis George said: “Jerry, the Holy See called this morning and you have been named a bishop.”

Stunned, I said, “WHAT!?”

The cardinal looked back at me and said, “Jerry, I am more surprised than you are.”

To which I replied, “Thanks for your vote of confidence.”

We both laughed and I think I heard God laugh.

full article at MkeCatholicHerald 

Cardinal George’s galero lifted to the rafters

WGN

Also John Cantius: Liturgy, Sacred Music & The Cardinal
“His Eminence taught us that the sacred liturgy helps to bring our faith to its fulfillment.”

HT Father Z

NCReg: Canons Regular Salute Cardinal George

Cardinal Francis George holds a special place in the hearts of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius.

This community of priests and brothers dedicated to the “Restoration of the Sacred” grew from a small group — at the once-flourishing church that become by the 1990s a place well-worn down, falling apart and in need of serious repairs and restoration (and with few parishioners) — to today’s St. John Cantius Church, a jewel of sacred liturgies and music, glorious liturgical art and an ever-growing and thriving congregation (see video of this here).

Cardinal George surely envisioned what would one day come to be.

“Here are the beginnings of an order founded to make available to the people of God the heritage and gifts of the universal Church in all their forms and all their splendor,” Cardinal George declared when he ordained the first priest of the Canons Regular.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/canons-regular-salute-cardinal-george/#ixzz3Y9eimmSk

Fr. Rocky: "Cardinal George. Requiescat in pace."

Cardinal George. Requiescat in pace.
Posted by Father Rocky on Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Also, more from Abp. Listecki.

Abp. Listecki on death of Cdl George: "I have lost a personal friend and mentor;" George "formed my episcopacy"

“The Church has lost a great servant, the Archdiocese of Chicago has lost a tremendous shepherd and I have lost a personal friend and mentor,” Archbishop Listecki shared. “I consider myself blessed to have been ordained a bishop by Cardinal George and then served as one of his auxiliaries. His insight into Church teachings, his love for the Church of Chicago and his commitment to Jesus Christ shaped and formed my episcopacy."

“I have often said that Cardinal George was the undeclared intellectual leader of the Conference of Catholic Bishops. We will all miss his voice, but we will continue to be shaped by his vision. May God welcome this servant into His Kingdom," he added.

Archdiocese of Milwaukee

Cardinal George consecrates Bishop Listecki

Photo: Catholic New World/Sandy Bertog

Cardinal Francis George dies after long struggle with cancer

Cardinal Francis George, the first Chicago native to serve as the local archbishop and a man who during that 17-year tenure became the intellectual leader of the American church, died Friday morning at his home after a years long struggle with cancer. He was 78.

"A man of peace, tenacity and courage has been called home to the Lord," George's successor, Archbishop Blase Cupich, said during a brief announcement Friday afternoon.

He said George died at 10:45 a.m. at his home.

"Let us heed his example and be a little more brave, a little more steadfast and a lot more loving," Cupich said. "May Cardinal Francis George rest in peace."

continue at Chicago Tribune

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Requiescat in pace!

Cdl George: "the first full translation of the missal of Paul VI was ideologically charged"

You were prominent in the work of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) and the development of the new liturgical translations. Now that they have been in use for nearly two years, are you satisfied with the translations pastorally and theologically?

It’s hard for me to give an unbiased judgment on the value of the new translations. First of all, the first full translation of the missal of Paul VI was ideologically charged. Since the liturgy, along with Sacred Scripture, is the primary carrier of the tradition that unites us to Christ, the loss of the theology of grace, the domestication of God, the paraphrasing that deliberately omitted nuances of understanding, the deliberate omission of biblical references in the liturgical text itself, etc. left the church for forty years without a way of worship that adequately expressed our faith. This was clear for those of us who used the Roman missal in Spanish during those years; their translation was far more adequate. The bishops had the obligation to see that the translation into English of the third edition of the Roman Missal was faithful and also able to be used communally. I believe it has been well done. Some of the expressions in the Prefaces are a bit “clunky,” but the collects are truly beautiful if a priest takes the time to interiorize the structure of dependent clauses and use his voice so that the prayer is comprehensible to the faithful.

full interview at Amerika

ht Pewsitter

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Cardinal George to speak in Eau Claire Oct 28th at “Excellence in Ethics Symposium”

Cardinal George, by the way, will be in Eau Claire on October 28! He is the lead-off speaker at the “Excellence in Ethics Symposium” at Sacred Heart Hospital from 10:00 until 2:30. Jacky and I have already registered. The $25 registration fee includes lunch, and the food is always so good there, just so you know. Besides Cardinal George, Jesuit physician Myles Sheehan will speak on end-of-life issues like “Which types of treatments are acceptable and which are not? Where is the meaning in the pain and suffering of dying?” To inquire or register, you can call our own Mary Ellen Bliss at the Center for Spiritual Care, 715.717.6594. With the Cardinal himself in the process of dying, this event should be profound.

St. James the Greater Parish (ahem "Where All Are Welcome") - Eau Claire

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HT MT

Cardinal George: Our "vaunted American liberties" are "all being traded off in favor of freedom of sexual expression"

Francis Cardinal George, in his most recent column in Catholic New World, reflects on the nature of religious freedom in the United States, and masterfully connects a number of important, related points in doing so:

In this country, we do not fear being killed for our faith. What, then, are we afraid of? We are afraid that the institutions that perform the works of mercy that have been integral to the church’s mission for centuries will be forced to become, effectively, government institutions, given permission to exist only if they do not act as Catholic. At stake are Catholic hospitals, Catholic universities and Catholic social services, precisely as Catholic. At stake also is a society that once permitted many different voices and faiths to contribute to the common good without compromising their collective conscience.

The issue has clustered around the HHS mandate that insists that any institution serving the public must treat women’s fertility as an enemy to be suppressed for the sake of women’s freedom. In fact, the government has made many exceptions to this rule, but has steadfastly refused to exempt Catholic institutions. The issue is therefore in the courts.

The imposition of a definition of marriage that destroys the natural meaning of marital union is becoming another test case for religious liberty. The law now holds that men and women are interchangeable in marriage, as if children did not need both a mother and a father to be born and raised with some security. These are laws that mark societies in decline, demographically as well as morally.

continue at Catholic World Report

HT Drew Mariani

Chicago Tribune lists Abps. Listecki & Sample as "possible candidates cited by experts" for next Chicago Archbishop

Abp. Sample

There is no public "short list" for who will succeed Cardinal Francis George at the helm of the Chicago Archdiocese, and the process appears to be in the early stages. But here are some possible candidates cited by experts:
...
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki

A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, Listecki didn't hesitate to criticize Rep. Nancy Pelosi for her interpretation of church teaching on abortion and blast the University of Notre Dame for awarding an honorary doctorate to President Barack Obama. In 2011, the Milwaukee archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the financial toll of settling sexual abuse claims. If called to Chicago, he or Gregory would be the first archbishop to return after serving as a local priest. (Though George is a Chicago native, he served in a religious order.) "It would probably be a little on the difficult side," Schreiter said. "You could start leading the church you knew 20 years ago rather than the church now."

Portland, Ore., Archbishop Alexander King Sample

George had been Portland's archbishop for only nine months when he got the call to Chicago. Sample has been there just over a year. But like George, Sample is considered a shooting star. Not only is he among the youngest American archbishops at age 53 (some have dubbed him the "Baby Bishop"), he wasn't ordained until he turned 30, earning an engineering degree before deciding to pursue the priesthood. If longevity is the goal, Sample could be the best bet.

continue at Chicago Tribune

HT JoshD

Cardinal George successor expected to be named late this fall

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the papal nuncio to the United States, informed George that he has started the consulting process, which is expected to be complete in late fall, the archdiocese said.

George, who is battling cancer for the third time, confirmed in April that he had urged Vigano to launch the search, shortly after his doctors advised George not to travel to Rome for the canonization of Popes John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.

“It’s just not fair to the archdiocese to have someone who may not be able to do the job the way it should be done,” George said at the time.

The fall timetable presented by the archdiocese could make George the first archbishop to meet his successor. All previous Chicago archbishops have died before the age of 75, when they and other bishops must submit a mandatory letter of resignation. George took that step on his 75th birthday, Jan. 16, 2012. Even then, he said, it would be several years before the next in line would be named.

continue at the Chicago Tribune

It's anybody's guess.  Anyone have thoughts on who would be named?  I once upon a time dreamed of Bp. Joseph Perry, Chicago auxiliary but I think that time has passed.

Cdl. George resumes chemotherapy, cancels trip for canonizations

Cardinal Francis George will not travel to Rome for the canonizations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, the pontiff who appointed him a bishop and elevated him to cardinal.

The archdiocese said Tuesday that the cardinal accepted doctors' advice not to travel overseas for the April 27 canonizations. The decision comes after the cardinal announced a new cancer diagnosis last month and received two doses of chemotherapy, one of which led to his hospitalization.

“They spelled out the dangers,” George said Tuesday night at St. Xavier University, where he delivered a lecture. “I can't risk another infection … It will be very crowded. … It would be very foolish to go over there.”

The 77-year-old George will be in Chicago during Holy Week, which starts Sunday, and which he described as being more important than being in Rome. He will serve at the altar during worship services leading up to Easter, but he is expected to avoid distributing communion and personally greeting parishioners because of a weakened immune system, church officials said.

George's decision not to travel follows the archdiocese's announcement last month that doctors had found new cancer cells in his right kidney. He had been in remission following a diagnosis of urothelial cancer in August 2012.

continue at Chicago Tribune

Cardinal George says cancer appears to be active again

Chicago, Ill., Mar 7, 2014 / 11:13 am (CNA).- Cardinal Francis George of Chicago told his archdiocese that Lent finds him in “poor health” as cancer in his right kidney that was dormant for over a year is “showing signs of new activity.”

“While I am not experiencing symptoms of cancer at this time, this is a difficult form of the disease, and it will most probably eventually be the cause of my death,” he wrote in his most recent column for the Catholic New World archdiocesan paper.

Cardinal George said that after “many tests, scans, biopsies and other inconveniences,” he was advised to enter into an aggressive round of chemotherapy which will take place over the next two months.
....
“As I prepare for this next round of chemo, I ask for your prayers, which have always sustained me, and for your understanding if I cannot always fulfill the schedule already set for the next several months.”

In his column, Cardinal George also said “I imagine this news will increase speculation about my retirement.” However, the “only certainty is that no one knows when that will be, except perhaps the Holy Father, and he hasn't told me.”

continue at CNA

Weigel on Cardinal George's golden anniversary

When Francis Eugene George first sought admission to the Chicago seminary in the 1950s, Chicago Catholicism imagined itself the future of the Catholic Church in the western world—and not without reason. A lot of the ferment in Catholic intellectual, liturgical and pastoral life that would eventually produce the Second Vatican Council had already passed through Cook and Lake Counties in the previous two decades. Thus “this confident Church” (as one historian of Chicago Catholicism dubbed it) readily imagined itself the cutting-edge of the Catholic future: where Chicago was, the rest of the Church would eventually be. It was a conceit, to be sure; but it was a conceit with some institutional and pastoral foundation.

Now, as he marks his golden anniversary of priestly ordination on Dec. 21, Cardinal Francis E. George, O.M.I., the first native Chicagoan to lead what many still regard as the flagship American diocese, is best known, in some circles at least, for proposing the possibility of a very different Catholic future. He sketched it starkly for a group of priests, to illustrate the implications of radical secularization for America: “I will die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die as a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.”

There have likely been moments when my friend Cardinal George has rued the day he publicly engaged in that thought-exercise. Many 21st-century Catholics are reluctant to think outside their comfort-zones; the blogosphere can distort anything. Yet the arresting way he formulated that possible future, and especially its net result, gets us to the essence of Francis Eugene George, I suggest.

continue at FirstThings

Gay marriage "blasted" in letter by Cardinal George

November 17, 2013 (CHICAGO) -- One of the most high-profile religious leaders who opposed Illinois' new same-sex marriage legislation says the law will have consequences for the church and society.

Chicago's Cardinal Francis George has written a letter he asked be posted in churches. George oversees the Archdiocese of Chicago, which serves more than 2 million Catholics in northeastern Illinois.

In the letter, George claims that the law is bad because it'll contribute to "the further dissolution of marriage and family life." He also says that all people must be respected without exception.  [That's "blasting"??]

Gov. Pat Quinn will sign legislation later this week to make Illinois the next state to allow same-sex marriage. Backers have called it a matter of equality and civil rights. They've also cast it as a way to keep families together.

ABC7

I can't find the letter though.  Anyone else know where to find it?

I've seen "blasting" of unnatural unions, and that ain't it. 

Also: 
Story: Quinn to sign gay marriage into law on Nov. 20
and:
Cardinal mum about three prominent Dems — Quinn, Madigan, Cullerton — backing gay marriage
HT Pewsitter

Cardinal George: On listening to the pope

Even within the church, individuals and groups that have habitually said we should ignore papal teaching, even in its solemn form of an encyclical, are now saying we should listen to Pope Francis. This is no small improvement and no meager pastoral victory!

Despite the newfound willingness of former despisers of the papal office to listen to Pope Francis, there remains a deeper challenge to what he himself would desire. Before his election, Cardinal Bergoglio warned his brother cardinals about the danger of a "self-referential" church, a self-absorbed church that speaks more about itself than about Christ. Today, ironically, it seems that many are speaking more about the pope than about either the church or Christ!

So what has Pope Francis said that has occasioned this about face in the world's judgment? Ironically, again, the pope has said we should pay attention to Christ, who wants to forgive us and whose love is always available to us. The pope began his recently published interview (see story on Page 2) with the declaration that he is a sinner. This is the first truth emphasized in the Ignatian Exercises and in the Gospel itself. What a sinner needs is forgiveness; what the self-righteous demand is approval. Self-righteousness is the biblical sin against the Holy Spirit.

The pope is neither an American liberal nor an American conservative. He is a disciple of Jesus Christ who has experienced the forgiveness and mercy of God and who wants to tell the world about it. His words fall out of the categories of American public discourse, because the one word that cannot be spoken publicly in our society is forgiveness. "Justice" in the form of punishment is the subject of half of our TV shows and three quarters of our news broadcasts. The pope, by contrast, invites us to confess our sins and taste the mercy of God. Then, in a life dedicated to sinning no more, the doctrinal and moral teaching of the church finds its place.

continue at CERC

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