UNITED STATES
Whispers in the Loggia
At Roman Noon, the report became reality: the Pope accepted the resignation of Cardinal Francis George for reasons of age, naming Blase Cupich the Ninth Archbishop of Chicago.
As previously relayed, the archbishop-elect will be introduced at a 9.30am Central press conference at the Archbishop Quigley Center, now the Chancery of the nation’s third-largest diocese. Livestreams, etc. will follow here then.
Cupich’s installation in Holy Name Cathedral has been set for Tuesday, November 18th. On a wider level, meanwhile, the last 48 hours have now brought what could well end up being Francis’ two most consequential appointments of his entire pontificate in the English-speaking church.
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As reaction goes, suffice it to say, the phone didn’t stop ringing from around 2pm yesterday ’til well past midnight. And while the Stateside bench’s centrist-progressive bloc was greatly cheered and the more conservative wing is deeply concerned, the one thing everyone had in common was being utterly stunned, both at the choice and its arrival on a timeline far quicker than anybody expected.
Putting one key question to rest, asked about Cupich’s proficiency in Spanish for a 2.3 million-member archdiocese now in range of a Hispanic majority, a longtime friend said “He doesn’t have it.” Here, it’s worth reminding that Chicago is home to what’s become American Catholicism’s largest annual event – the 36-hour Guadalupe feast at the shrine in suburban Des Plaines, which has drawn as many as 250,000 people over recent December 12ths.
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