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PROFILE:
Archbishop Francis George
January 30, 1998 Episode no. 122
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BOB ABERNETHY: Before he left for Cuba, Pope John Paul named 22 new cardinals. They'll receive their red hats in a Vatican ceremony on February 21. Among them, Francis George, the Archbishop of Chicago. Successor to the late beloved Cardinal Bernadin, Archbishop George promises to become a major figure in the national religious scene. Judy Valente in Chicago has our profile.
Archbishop FRANCIS GEORGE (Archdiocese of Chicago): The Lord be with you.
JUDY VALENTE: He is a scholar with doctorates in philosophy and theology. He speaks four languages. He is something of a paradox, a member of a missionary order who never worked as a missionary. And now an archbishop soon to be a cardinal, who never served as a parish priest.
Reverend JIM ALLEN (Former Colleague): I don't think anybody would've considered him ambitious. My guess is that he would have been perfectly happy as a philosophy professor.
VALENTE: Behind the pomp is a personable man, a man of humor, a man who listens to other people. But on Church issues, he's a conservative, in line with the pope. Catholics here and across the country are waiting to see just how willing he'll be to engage in dialogue on such issues as sexual morality, the role of the laity, and priestly celibacy. Issues on which the Church's position is clear.
Archbishop GEORGE: The priest is not a negotiator. It's not his job to look at the teachings of the Church and look at the people and somehow negotiate the difference. That's a misuse of his office. He has no right to do that.
VALENTE: Looming over the new archbishop is the memory of his predecessor, the late Cardinal Bernadin, revered for his openness and talent for bringing people together. But Archbishop George gives no sign of being intimidated by the popularity of Bernadin. For one thing, George is a native Chicagoan.
Unidentified Woman: I missed you so much. Don't go away so long so far.
VALENTE: Born of German and Irish-American parents 61 years ago, he grew up in this house on the city's far northwest side, and attended parochial school.
Sister MARY RITA MCCABE (Former Teacher): He was the brightest who ever went through my classroom. And I'm going when he gets the red hat in Rome, with him.
VALENTE: At age 13, George contracted polio. For him, it was the end of playing his beloved baseball. He walks with a pronounced limp, still has leg pain, but looks back without bitterness.
Archbishop GEORGE: There's always a temptation for resentment, resentment that, you know, this is impossible. And anger, I suppose, at God or at nature, or whatever you hold responsible for your condition. Yes. But then you also begin to learn how to be yourself, truly yourself within certain limits, which, of course, is the definition of maturity.
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VALENTE: While recuperating from polio, he developed a deep prayer life. He says now that while prayer is sometimes a perfunctory exercise, it can also be a transcendent experience.
Archbishop GEORGE: If somebody gives himself or herself to prayer, there are moments when you have a sense of union. You don't hear voices, at least I don't, or anything like that; there's just a sense of unity with someone who loves you infinitely more you could ever imagine.
VALENTE: Chicago is a microcosm of American Catholicism, the faces are a mosaic of dozens of ethnic groups, people from all economic levels whose lives are bound with a common religion, but perhaps not by much else. George would acknowledge that he is progressive on social issues like poverty and race, and conservative on matters of Church doctrine. An issue of special importance for him personally is what he calls the myth of individualism.
Archbishop GEORGE: It's a destructive myth if we really come to believe that we're not first of all related, before we're individuals; then we end up with the isolation and alienation that also characterizes our society and is so destructive of individuals who pay a tremendous price for that myth of individual success.
VALENTE: He recognizes tension and polarization in the Church, that conservatives feel they have been demeaned for trying to preserve traditions they cherish. That liberals feel the Church is not listening to them on issues like a married priesthood and the ordination of women.
Archbishop GEORGE: I think the hierarchy is listening. I can review all those questions and I can review all those answers. I think we listen. We don't agree. We can't agree, we're not free.
VALENTE: Simple as that?
Archbishop GEORGE: It's as simple as that. What's the proof that I've listened? That I agree with you?
VALENTE: A major challenge for a modern archbishop is to keep the Church relevant at the grassroots level, where individual Catholics and even parish priests often go their own way, in spite of the bureaucracy.
Unidentified Man: And please wear it proudly, and I hope it occupies a position next to the hat that you will receive later this year from the pope.
VALENTE: So far, George's intelligence and humor have endeared him to Chicago. The extent of his national influence will remain an open question, but the cap that he puts on in Rome February 21 will be the red one of a cardinal, and from that point on, his influence can only grow. I'm Judy Valente in Chicago.
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