Cardinal George Overcame Setbacks To Lead Hometown Archdiocese
(CBS) -- How in the world did a young Chicago polio victim, barred from a local seminary because of his disability, end up a prince of the church and one of the most influential Roman Catholic clerics in the world?
Francis Cardinal George was a son of the city's Northwest Side, schooled at St. Pascal's in Portage Park. He had an unusually early vision of his destiny, according to childhood friend Geri Draniczeck.
"From the time he was a small boy he was always going to be a priest," Draniczeck says.
And not just any priest, but the first native son to lead the Chicago Archdiocese. He says the assignment was his most challenging.
Right after his successor was announced, Cardinal George attended his final meeting as Chicago's representative to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. There it was announced that Pope Francis himself had inquired twice about George's health.
For years, George was considered the unofficial American voice at the Vatican. His 1998 elevation to cardinal gave him a seat at the papal table.
He talked with John Paul, and then Pope Benedict when he accompanied him on a papal visit to America, about what the sex abuse scandal was doing to the church here.
He was devastated when one of his own priests, Father Daniel McCormick, slipped through the safety net.
"I am deeply sorry and deeply affected, because this is the first time on my watch as a bishop that anybody was abused," George said.
Some called him "Francis the Corrector" for his constant reminders of church teaching and tradition. Gay and lesbian Catholics were particularly incensed.
"Everybody's welcome, always. But everybody's welcome on God's conditions," George countered.
George's single-minded focus on principles of faith were disrupted only by physical failings.
A fall left him with a fractured hip. There were repeated back and knee problems and a bout with bladder cancer in 2006 and the discovery of new cancerous cells requiring rounds of chemotherapy in the years before and after he joined other cardinals for the election of Pope Francis.
Despite his failing health, his mind remained sharp. Just hours after white smoke announced a new pope, Cardinal George sat down with Levine in Rome and signaled before anyone else what kind of pope Francis would be.
"A universal man, especially with a heart for the poor," George said then.
