Photo by Brian Morowczynski; copyright 2009 VIAphotos.com
FEATURE STORY
AN INTERVIEW WITH
FRANCIS CARDINAL GEORGE
INTRODUCTION
As readers of Sacred Places will recall, Partners has worked over the past three years to establish an office in
Chicago, providing a range of training and technical assistance to congregations of all faiths in Chicagoland.
As part of the process of networking with Chicago’s religious leaders, Bob Jaeger and Tuomi Forrest met with the
Reverend John Canary, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chicago, in the spring of 2008. He quickly expressed
an interest in the New Dollars/New Partners program and subsequently arranged a meeting with Archbishop of
Chicago Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Cardinal George was installed as the sixth archbishop of Chicago in May of 1997 to lead Chicago’s 2.3 million
Catholics; he is the first native of Chicago to do so. Cardinal George also serves as president of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
After a positive meeting with Cardinal George, his six auxiliary bishops, and the vicar general, the archdiocese
sponsored a round of New Dollars training for eleven parishes. Through the course of that training, which took
place this past year, Chicago Office Director Gianfranco Grande has strengthened the relationship with Cardinal
George and with Father Canary, who now serves on the Advisory Board of the Chicago Office. The archdiocese has
also recently sponsored a second round of training for another twelve parishes.
Cardinal George does not grant many interviews, and Partners is grateful to have been given this opportunity to
speak with him on matters ranging from his and Gianfranco’s common love of Rome, to his interest in Chicago
architecture, to effective ways to care for the hundreds of older parish buildings in the archdiocese.
Sacred Places • Fall 2009 • 14