Chicago archbishop Cupich elevated to rank of cardinal

By Manya Brachear Pashman And Ted Gregory
Chicago Tribune
October 9, 2016

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-archbishop-cupich-named-cardinal-met-20161009-story.html

Archbishop Blase Cupich arrives Oct. 9, 2016, at Holy Name Cathedral, where he celebrated Mass. Earlier in the day he learned he will be elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Francis.

Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich stood before hundreds in Holy Name Cathedral for 11 a.m. Sunday Mass and started his homily by saying he had news for those who might have gone to bed early and slept late.

"The Cubs won the second game of the playoffs and now lead 2-0," Cupich said, prompting the cathedral to erupt in laughter and applause.

The more relevant news in the pews was that at about 5 a.m. Sunday, Cupich was awakened by a phone call from a friend in Rome who told him that Pope Francis announced in St. Peter's Square that Cupich will be elevated to the rank of cardinal, one of the Roman Catholic Church's most prestigious titles next to the papacy.

He told worshippers that he was "so very grateful and humbled," by the news, and those gathered broke into louder applause. A moment later, Cupich said, "but on to more important things — the Gospel."

Installed as archbishop in November 2014, Cupich, 67, will receive his red hat in Rome on Nov. 19, the day before the church's Year of Mercy ends. The elevation means he will have a vote in future papal elections.

"I would have to say as I reflect on it, while I'm pleased with this, I don't feel any different," Cupich told the media gathered in the cathedral courtyard after Mass. "I feel as though I have to be the same person that I've always been. So, this isn't going to give me greater impulse or hold me back from being involved in the lives of people. I just don't feel as though it is in any way going to change me personally."

Besides, he joked, his family "is just going to go with the flow on this and treat me with the same lack of deference that they have in the past."

Though this is the first time Francis has named American cardinals, it was no surprise to some that Cupich's name was on the list unveiled Sunday. Chicago's last six archbishops were named cardinals, and Cupich's star has been on the rise ever since he leapt to the third-largest U.S. archdiocese from the diocese of Spokane, Wash.

Last year, Francis hand-picked Cupich to participate in a worldwide meeting of bishops and cardinals to discuss how to make the church's teachings on marriage, contraception, divorce and homosexuality relevant to contemporary Catholic families.

Then in July, Francis named Cupich to the influential Congregation for Bishops, a Vatican panel that helps vet bishop candidates around the world. At the time, experts said Cupich's appointment indicated the pope's desire to have a key pastoral voice involved in the selection of U.S. church leaders and signaled he was one step closer to becoming a cardinal.

Despite those indications, John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, described Cupich's pending elevation as a surprise. Carr, a former classmate of Cupich's at St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas, said when tapping new cardinals, Francis hasn't always gone to traditional dioceses that have had cardinals.

"Pope Francis has a practice of going to the peripheries, as he calls them," Carr said. He added that several dioceses that will receive cardinals via Francis' latest directive do not have them now. "Chicago is many things, but not a periphery.

"He (Francis) was looking for someone who shares his mission, his message and his practices," Carr said, "and he found him in Chicago."

Carr, who called himself "a great admirer" of Cupich, said the archbishop is "a pastor who listens, learns and leads."

Archbishop George Mundelein was the first Chicago prelate elevated to cardinal in 1924, eight years after he had been installed here. His successor, Samuel Stritch, served for six years before getting his red hat. But Albert Meyer, John Cody, Joseph Bernardin, Francis George and now Cupich were elevated within two years of their arrival in Chicago.

Outside Holy Name before Mass, Keelin and Gayle Wyman, of Midlothian, were encouraged by the news. Gayle Wyman said Cupich has done a commendable job getting out to parishes across the Chicago area.

Keelin Wyman said Cupich is "a relatively youthful voice and that's a good thing. As American baby boomers, we'd like to see a certain modernity come to the Catholic Church."

That modernity would include married priests, female clergy and what Gayle Wyman called "a more realistic view on birth control."

Inside the cathedral, usher Araceli Cooper handed out bulletins while she beamed.

"He reaches more people and is very approachable," Cooper said, "and he gives us inspiration on how to be faithful and be good Catholics."

In addition to Cupich, Pope Francis elevated 16 others to the rank of cardinal, including two from the U.S. — Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin and Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell.

Cupich's elevation to cardinal will not change his role as archbishop of Chicago, a title he has held since he was installed. He will continue to oversee a massive overhaul of 351 parishes and 229 schools.

"The role of cardinal brings new responsibilities," Cupich said in a statement earlier Sunday morning, "but with your prayers and help, we will continue the task we have begun of renewing the church in the archdiocese and preparing it to thrive in the decades ahead."

After Sunday's service, Cupich said he was unsure whether he would ask a local group of civic and religious leaders to a series of events in which he will be formally elevated to cardinal.

He also said he "will go with the usual nomenclature" and take advice from others about whether he will be Cardinal Blase Cupich or Blase Cardinal Cupich.

He was even drawn into the vitriolic presidential campaign. A reporter asked whether he might weigh in on Republican nominee Donald Trump's disparaging comments about women captured on audio in 2005 and revealed on Friday.

"Well, I would say this," he said. "I have a deep faith in the moral fiber of the American people to respond appropriately. That's all I'm going to say. Thank you."