Cardinal Francis George dies after long struggle with cancer

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya Brachear Pashman
Chicago Tribune

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.

Cupich remembered George as “always choosing the church over his own comfort, and the people over his own needs. …

He also became a point person between the U.S. and the Vatican on the abuse scandal and matters such as liturgy of the Mass, playing a key role in revisions that brought the English translation closer to the original Latin.

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