64 Facts About Francis George

Francis Eugene George was an American prelate of the Catholic Church.

Francis George was the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois and previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Yakima in Washington State and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon.

Francis George served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2007 to 2010.

On September 20,2014, Pope Francis accepted George's resignation and appointed Bishop Blase J Cupich to succeed him as Archbishop of Chicago.

Francis George was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and died from the disease in 2015.

Francis George was born on January 16,1937, in Chicago, Illinois, to Francis J and Julia R George.

Francis George received his early education at the parochial school of St Pascal Parish in Chicago's Northwest Side.

Francis George contracted polio at age 13, leaving him with a permanent limp.

Francis George instead enrolled at St Henry Preparatory Seminary in Belleville, Illinois, a high school seminary of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Francis George continued his studies at the Oblates novitiate in Godfrey, Illinois, before entering Our Lady of the Snows Seminary in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

Francis George was then sent to study theology at the University of Ottawa in Canada.

Francis George made his solemn vows as a member of the Oblates on September 8,1961.

On December 21,1963, Francis George was ordained to the priesthood for the Oblates by Bishop Raymond Hillinger at St Pascal Church.

Francis George then entered the Catholic University of American in Washington, DC, receiving a Master of Theology degree in 1965.

Francis George then taught philosophy at Our Lady of the Snows Seminary, Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Francis George served as provincial superior of the Midwestern Province for the Oblates in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1973 until 1974, when he became the Oblates vicar general.

Francis George obtained a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in 1988, with a thesis entitled: "Inculturation and communion".

Francis George returned to the United States, where he served as coordinator of the Circle of Fellows at the Center for the Study of Faith and Culture in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

On July 10,1990, Francis George was appointed the fifth bishop of Yakima by Pope John Paul II.

Francis George received his episcopal consecration on September 21,1990, from Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, with Bishops Roger Schwietz and William S Skylstad serving as co-consecrators, at Holy Family Church in Yakima.

Francis George took as his episcopal motto: Christo Gloria in Ecclesia.

Francis George served as bishop of Yakima for five and a half years.

Francis George was an episcopal advisor to the Cursillo Movement from 1990 to 1997, and episcopal moderator of the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities from 1990 to 2008.

Francis George was a papal appointee to the 1994 World Synod of Bishops on Consecrated Life, and attended the Ninth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Vatican City in 1994.

Francis George was the first native Chicagoan to become archbishop there.

Francis George addressed the archdiocese's annual Theology on Tap gathering in 1997.

In 2009, Francis George met with newly elected US President Barack Obama.

In 2010, Francis George finished his three-year presidency of the USCCB.

In 2011, Francis George terminated the foster care program of Catholic Charities in the archdiocese.

In 2007, Francis George asked Jewish theologians to reconsider descriptions of Jesus in the Talmud as a "bastard".

In February 2010, Francis George spoke at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, about the need for Catholics and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to protect religious freedom.

Francis George praised the LDS for its efforts to combat poverty, pornography and same-sex marriage.

Francis George further outlined in 2010 how he believed religious freedoms in the United States and other Western societies were endangered.

In September 2014, Francis George met with a gay music director of a Catholic parish who had been fired after announcing his intention to marry his partner.

Francis George was appointed by John Paul II to the 1994 World Synod of Bishops on Consecrated Life and as a delegate and one of two special secretaries at the Synod of Bishops for America in 1997.

Francis George served as USCCB vice president and president.

Francis George served as a member, and later as a consultant, to the Committee on Divine Worship; he was a consultant to the Committee on Doctrine and Pro-Life Activities and the Subcommittee on Lay Ministry.

Francis George had served on the committees on Doctrine, on Latin America, on Missions, on Religious Life, the American Board of Catholic Missions, and on World Missions; on the Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism and the Subcommittee on Campus Ministry.

Francis George was chair of the Committee for Bishops and Scholars from 1992 to 1994, and of the Committee on Liturgy from 2001 to 2004, and a consultant to the Committees on Evangelization, Hispanic Affairs, Science and Values, and African American Catholics.

Francis George was the representative to the International Commission on English and the Liturgy from 1997 to 2006.

Francis George served as chancellor from 1997 to 2014 of the Catholic Church Extension Society.

Francis George served as episcopal liaison to the Catholic Campus Ministry Association executive board and was episcopal moderator for the Ministry of Transportation Chaplains from 2003.

Francis George served as episcopal advisor to the Cursillo Movement, Region XII, from 1990 to 1997.

From 1990 to 2008, Francis George was episcopal moderator and board member of the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities.

In July 2011, Francis George served as a catechist at the August 2011 World Youth Day celebration in Madrid, Spain.

Francis George served on the board of trustees of the Catholic University of America and the Papal Foundation.

In 1994, Francis George became a board member of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Francis George served on the board of directors of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, and a member of the Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Awards advisory board.

Francis George served on the board of directors of Oblate Media in Belleville, Illinois.

Francis George served as conventual chaplain ad honorem of the Federal Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and grand prior of the North Central Lieutenancy of the United States for the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Francis George belonged to the American Catholic Philosophical Association, the American Society of Missiologists, and the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs.

Francis George received an honorary doctorate from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, in 2014.

That same year, Francis George received the Medal of Merit, the highest honor of the City of Chicago.

On January 16,2012, Francis George submitted his letter of resignation as archbishop of Chicago to Benedict XVI, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Francis George named Monsignor Peter F Snieg, rector of St Joseph's Seminary at Loyola University Chicago, as moderator of the curia for the archdiocese.

At that time, Francis George anticipated remaining in office for two to three years.

Francis George was diagnosed with an aggressive but localized form of bladder cancer in 2006.

The cancer returned in March 2014 and Francis George started another round of chemotherapy.

Francis George was hospitalized for several days at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago after showing flu-like symptoms and signs of dehydration.

Francis George left the trial at the end of 2014 due to the lack of positive results.

On January 30,2015, Francis George told reporters that he was now receiving palliative care.

On September 20,2014, Pope Francis accepted George's resignation as archbishop of Chicago and named Bishop Blase J Cupich as his successor.

Francis George died of cancer on April 17,2015, in the archbishop's residence in Chicago at age 78.

Francis George lent his counsel to those in distress, his comfort to those in despair and he inspired us all with his courage in his final days.

Francis George published a bi-monthly column in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic New World, called "The Cardinal's Column".