Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of Cardinal Francis George, OMI

Francis Eugene George was born on January 16, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois. He joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and was ordained a priest on December 21, 1963. He earned multiple degrees, including a master’s in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 1965, a doctorate in American philosophy from Tulane University in 1970, and a master’s in theology from the University of Ottawa in 1971. He served as the Vicar General of the Oblates for 12 years, from 1974 to 1986.

George served as Bishop of Yakima (1990-1996), Archbishop of Portland (1996-1997), and Archbishop of Chicago (1997-2014). He was the first native Chicagoan to serve as Archbishop of Chicago 2. He was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 1998. He served as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 2007 to 2010.

Cardinal George was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2006 and passed away on April 17, 2015. His legacy is marked by his intellectual brilliance, pastoral care, and strong defense of Catholic doctrine.

Here is the homily delivered by Fr. Jim BROBST, General Councillor for the US-Canada Region.
 

Thanks, Fr. Mokone, all the members of the General House and the IRS, for the privilege of praying with you this evening.  A Special recognition, too, to my brother and fellow-Councillor Fr. Alberto Gnemmi, who celebrates 30 years of Oblate priesthood today.

I had the privilege of knowing Father Francis George for some years before he was made a bishop, and even served in the Archdiocese of Chicago as when he was Cardinal.  I was part of a group representing the Congregation at his funeral when he passed away in 2014.  I’d like to share a few thoughts about his holiness, specifically from an Oblate view.

To meet the Cardinal at any point in his life was to meet an absolutely brilliant man.  He earned doctorates in Theology and Philosophy.  He was also wonderfully insightful and engaging, with a jovial sense of humor.

He was a very young provincial for a short time, then a very young Vicar General, for a LONG time – 12 years – during very trying times in the Church and in world politics.  He was  not considered physically able for difficult missions due to his physical limitations from childhood polio.  Ironically, during his 12 years in the Central Government, he was:

• abandoned in an Eskimo fishing village in Greenland;
• caught in gunfire between guerilla troops and the Philippine army in Mindanao;
• attacked in Brussels;
• bombed in Jaffna during the Sri Lankan civil war;
• a visitor to squatters camps during Pinochet’s regime in Chile;
• refused entry into apartheid South Africa;
• deported from India;
• and experienced numerous times the brutality of Soviet rule in Eastern Europe.

That’s a long list of battle-stories that any foreign missionary would be admired for. He rose to great positions of power within the Oblates and within the Church.  But none of these are why he was Holy.  We ask not only what was Holy about this man, but what was OBLATE in his holiness?

He saw the holiness in those very different from himself
It is interesting to note that Francis had two classmates from his class in the Central US Province Juniorate.  They both wound up in Recife, Brazil, and had extremely opposite views on theology and liturgy than Francis.  When one of them, Fr. Larry Rosebaugh, was killed in a carjacking in Guatemala City, Cardinal Francis was known to have remarked that Larry “was probably a saint.”

We need people in our world who can recognize the goodness, even the holiness of those who are very different from themselves.  As a matter of fact, it’s essential for Oblates to do this.  We must recognize our own real connection to the marginalized.  Oblates lift up those people so that they, and others, can know their dignity.  Young Francis Geroge learned this skill very early in life.

He was marginalized and redeemed
As a young boy, he always wanted to be a priest.  Being stricken with Polio at the age of 13 dashed those hopes, despite his significant faith and talents.  After rejection by his own diocese and several other religious group, he was accepted into a small Oblate Juniorate in Belleville, Illinois, where he began learning how to be an OBLATE.  In many great turns of events, he eventually became the Cardinal Archbishop of the same diocese that rejected him as a seminarian.  This was no Hollywood ending.  It was very hard work, for which he suffered greatly.   But he remained faithful to his calling both as an Oblate and as a servant to the people of the Chicago Archdiocese. 

He knew to whom we was consecrated
In dealing with the many Oblates who left the congregation, in the 70’s and 80’s, he noted that many were not truly Consecrated to person of Jesus Christ – the Risen One whom we celebrate so powerfully during these days of Easter.  Francis perceived that many of those who left were focused on an ideology, or a job or a cause.  Some were on the far right, others on the far left.  Knowing not only who he himself was, but WHOSE he was,   Francis wrote profoundly in his final years:

             …  just as we pray to see God face to face, so God wants to see us face to face.  We give him our time, which is all we have, and he takes that gift and calls us when he is ready to do so.  In the end, that is all there is, and everything is summed up and integrated in that vision and desire.

He preferred the pastoral over the hierarchical
When I was assigned in Chicago, there was a parish where I served regularly on Sunday.  A Youth minister recounted a story about taking their group to World Youth Day during a beastly hot summer.  The young people were eating their sack lunch, while baking under the sun in a parking lot.  Next door was a large, air-conditioned tent, a with a catered lunch, served at comfortable tables and chairs, for visiting dignitaries.  They were quickly escaping the heat and their hunger and their thirst.  One of the youth group members recognized his parishes’ Cardinal in that line and called and waved to him to say hello.  Francis immediately left the line, and came over to the group of young people from Our Lady of the Woods Parish in Orland Park.  This physically disabled, elderly prelate shared a sack lunch with his young parishioners on the pavement, under the sun, while the rest of the hierarchy filed into the tent.

That is what holiness looks like for most oblates

• Each one of us can open our missionary eyes to see Christ’s presence in the marginalized, especially those we ourselves might push to the margins of our own beliefs.
• Each one of us is called and redeemed through some broken part of ourselves, whether or not that break is as visible as a leg brace from polio. 
• Each one of us makes our consecration to a person, the RISEN SAVIOR, not to an ideology. 
• Each one of us can recognize that when our world decides to grant us powers and privilege, they are to be used in humble service, washing the feet of others. 

Many of us  this house are reasonably bright men, but likely not as brilliant as Cardinal George.  Many of us have at least a few good “war stories” from missions near or far.  And just maybe, the next Oblate Cardinal is in this chapel.  

But, in the meantime, here we are –  called to holiness no less or more than Francis Cardinal George, no less or more than Pope Francis, (rest his soul) no less or more than our Founder, St. Eugene, and all the rich heritage of Oblate Ancestors in Faith. 

May their examples of holiness not remain merely inspiring stories, but may they urge us to ever greater connection with our Oblate Charism, and our deeper Consecration as men of Christ, our Savior, who is crucified, who is risen and rising, in the lives of the poor.

Blessed Easter to all!

Source: Original article from OMI World – “Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of
Cardinal Francis George, OMI”, published on April 22, 2025. Available at: omiworld.org