Free Republic

CHICAGO — Cardinal Francis George has asked for continued prayers after being dropped from a cancer drug’s clinical trial, which was determined to be ineffective for him. “He is at peace, but he counts on everyone’s prayers that he might be of service to the Lord and His Church in the time left to him,” the Archdiocese of Chicago said Dec. 31. “Cardinal George would like to thank all those who have been praying for him, and asks them to continue to do so. You and those you love are remembered in his prayers as well.”

Warning that the Church is being “despoiled of her institutions” as “freedom of conscience and of religion become a memory from a happier past,” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago observes that “the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must ‘give up’ her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations.” “So far in American history, our government has respected the freedom of individual conscience and of institutional integrity for all the many religious groups that shape our society,” he continues. “The government has not compelled them to perform or pay for what...

CHICAGO, IL, July 31, 2013 (LifeSiteNews) – After a group of eight Catholic Democrats published an open letter in the Chicago Tribune Monday accusing Cardinal Francis George of political blackmail for threatening to withhold charitable funding from an immigrant group that recently came out in favor of same-sex “marriage,” the cardinal fired back in a statement, calling the letter’s signers cynical and “intellectually and morally dishonest.” The Chicago diocese’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) had been contributing between $25,000 and $30,000 each year to several member groups of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to aid...

ROME — An American cardinal in Rome hinted Sunday at the difficulty of deciding who should be the next pope, saying the papal conclave was a time when “the will of God is not entirely clear.” Chicago’s archbishop, Cardinal Francis George, asked for “help and prayers” as he and 114 other cardinals prepared to enter the papal conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. “I ask you for your prayer to help the Holy Spirit to be present among us to open our hearts and our minds to what is the will of God for his people throughout...

Cardinal Francis George, who battled bladder cancer six years ago, learned Friday that the disease has returned to his kidney and liver, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. George, 75, underwent a procedure Wednesday during which a nodule was removed from his liver, according to a statement from the archdiocese. He met with doctors Friday and was told there were cancerous cells in his kidney and liver. The news of George's latest bout with cancer rattled Chicago's 2.3 million-strong Catholic community, some of whom learned of the cardinal's illness during evening Mass at Holy Name Cathedral.

Cardinal Francis George, the Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, has taken aim at remarks by the mayor and an alderman of Chicago slamming Chick-Fil-A’s public stance in support of true marriage. “Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the ‘values’ that must be held by citizens of Chicago,” Cardinal George wrote in a “Reflection on ‘Chicago Values’.”Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is also co-chair of President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, told the Chicago Tribune last week that he agreed with the reasons for Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno’s effort...

First Amendment: The ex-head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops compares the administration take on freedom of worship to the Soviet Union's and says its contraceptive mandate will force church hospitals to close. On the first Sunday of Lent, Chicago's Francis Cardinal George issued his version of the letter issued by the USCCB he recently led. It shredded assurances by the administration that things could be worked out so that religious freedom would not be impaired and painted a bleak future that just might be the administration's intent. Going a bit further than his peers, Cardinal George essentially rejected...

Warning that the Church is being “despoiled of her institutions” as “freedom of conscience and of religion become a memory from a happier past,” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago observes that “the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must ‘give up’ her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations.” “So far in American history, our government has respected the freedom of individual conscience and of institutional integrity for all the many religious groups that shape our society,” he continues. “The government has not compelled them to perform or pay for what...

With all due respect to Cardinal Francis George, I think his apology is misguided and his reasoning troubling: During a recent TV interview, speaking about this year's Gay Pride Parade, I used an analogy that is inflammatory.I am personally distressed that what I said has been taken to mean that I believe all gays and lesbians*are like members of the Klan. I do not believe that; it is obviously not true. Many people have friends and family members who are gay or lesbian, as have I. We love them; they are part of our lives, part of who we are....

Things were a little weird when Governor Pat Quinn, a Catholic, decided to present a pro-choice award for a pro-abortion rights PAC. The bishops responded strongly by saying, “This approach is irreconcilable with any honest profession of the Catholic faith. While we deeply regret and oppose his actions, we continue to pray for his conversion and the protection of unborn human life.”Things got a little stranger when the bishops publicly balked and arranged a meeting with the Governor to discuss Quinn’s “personal approval of laws permitting the killing of unborn children.” But this weekend, things got downright bizarre. Governor Pat...

I was going to start this column with a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas warning against obedience to church superiors “in all things.” But I am neither a theologian nor a Catholic, so I’d better leave debates about religious dogma to those who know it better than I. What I do know something about are the problems facing Chicago neighborhoods. Crime. Unemployment. Drugs. I have been writing about those things, or more accurately their consequences, for more than three decades now. And that’s why I understand a little bit about the battles that have been fought by Michael Pfleger, the...

A few years ago, in a fit of concern that my two sons were not being academically challenged by their neighborhood public school, my husband and I forked over the big bucks to enroll them in a Roman Catholic school much like the one I attended as a child. Talk about culture clash. My two sons came home complaining about the exact same ideologies that had vexed me so deeply during my eight years as a Catholic schoolgirl. It seemed like every dinnertime was exhausted by long explanations about the historical context of the religious beliefs they were taught and...

St. Petersburg, Fla., Jun 16, 2010 / 02:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Sister Carol Keehan, CEO and President of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) openly acted in favor of President Obama’s health care reform and in opposition to persistent requests from the bishops, said Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), during their spring meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida.During the bishops' executive session held Tuesday morning to address the fallout of CHA’s support for the health care legislation despite the bishop's opposition, Cardinal George recounted the events that took place prior to President Obama's signing...

First, it was Father Jenkins openly defying the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (of which Chicago's Cardinal Francis George is president) by letting our 100% pro-abortion President of the United States, Barack Obama, give the commencement speech and being awarded an "honorary" degree from the country's "flagship Catholic university," the University of Notre Dame. Second, it was Cardinal George awarding his controversial priest, Father Michael "Flim-Flam" Pfleger, a Lifetime Achievement Award shortly after Rev. Pfleger denounced the Catholic doctrine of the priesthood during his Easter Sunday sermon. And, after these disasterous doctrinal abuses, it's time the Catholic Special Forces take...

Thursday April 8, 2010 Cardinal George at Pfleger Award Ceremony: 'Abortion Kills Racial Justice' By Kathleen GilbertCHICAGO, April 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Presiding at an archdiocesan event honoring controversial priest Fr. Michael Pfleger for his civil rights work, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago took the opportunity to criticize media scrutiny of the award, but also to highlight the fact that, far from being irrelevant to the theme of the event, "abortion kills racial and social justice."The Dr. King Prayer Service and Racial Justice Awards sparked controversy in pro-life Catholic circles after it was revealed that Fr. Pfleger, an outspoken...

So much that you need to know about the Catholic Church’s social-policy problems can be summed up in one word: Chicago. On race, abortion, guns, immigration, and “community organizing,” Catholic Church officials in the Windy City have forged unholy alliances with radical left-wingers and enablers who undermine the faith — and the faithful. Exhibit A: the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Racial Justice and one of its most notorious priests, the Rev. Michael Pfleger. This week, Chicago cardinal Francis George — who also is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — presided over a gala ceremony honoring Pfleger...

So much that you need to know about the Catholic Church’s social policy problems can be summed up in one word: Chicago. On race, abortion, guns, immigration and “community organizing,” Catholic Church officials in the Windy City have forged unholy alliances with radical left-wingers and enablers who undermine the faith—and the faithful. Exhibit A: the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Racial Justice and one of its most notorious priests, the Rev. Michael Pfleger. This week, Chicago Cardinal Francis George—who also happens to be president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—presided over a gala ceremony honoring Pfleger with a “lifetime...

Look who is presiding over a special celebration honoring Catholic clown and race-baiting reverend Michael Pfleger (hat tip: Matt A.)Yes, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s “Office of Racial Justice” is bestowing the demagogic Pfleger of the St. Sabina parish with a “lifetime achievement award” for his “service in pursuit of dismantling racism, injustice and inequalities on behalf of African Americans and all people of color” — and the Archbishop of Chicago himself, Cardinal George, is the official “presider.”

Cardinal Francis George's personal physician plans to depart Chicago and leave medicine next month to take a job with his Roman Catholic religious order. Dr. Myles Sheehan, 53, a Jesuit priest who has sported a clerical collar and white lab coat for 14 years at Loyola University Health System, has been selected to be the next provincial, or leader, of the Jesuits' New England Province based in Boston. "As provincial, one of my main responsibilities will be taking care of the 300 Jesuits in New England, and I have a real peace knowing I will be able to ensure these...

KENNER, La. (CNS) -- President Barack Obama is a "very gracious and obviously a very smart man" but he is on the "wrong side of history" when it comes to his fervent support of abortion rights, Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George told the 2009 Louisiana Priests Convention April 21. Cardinal George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told 200 priests from the seven dioceses of Louisiana that, while he wants Obama to succeed in his efforts to right the economy, enhance world peace and help the poor, the president needs to understand that the Catholic Church will not...