A life of self-sacrifice
Biography of Cardinal Francis George details a life of self-sacrifice
“His honesty in confronting his challenges reminded me of something St. Paul said: ‘There is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches’ ” (2 Corinthians 4:15).
– Archbishop Gomez
At one point in Michael Heinlein’s well-researched biography of Cardinal Francis George, “Glorifying Christ: The Life of Cardinal Francis E. George, O.M.I.” (Our Sunday Visitor Press, $29.95) the author writes, “Without question, suffering defined much of George’s life.”
There was a great deal of physical suffering in the prelate’s life, starting when he contracted polio at 13 years old. Polio left him lame for the rest of his life and subject to many surgical interventions. On top of the pain and inconvenience consequent to the disease, George had two different bouts with cancer. The first, in 2006, required radical surgery and the construction of an artificial bladder. The second bout hit him in 2012. He fought it off for two years before he died.
Heinlein notes that the cardinal hardly complained about his health. In the forward to the book, Archbishop José H. Gomez notes, “I had forgotten how bravely [Cardinal George] had carried out his public ministry.” Archbishop Gomez emphasized that the spiritual suffering George endured while serving the Archdiocese of Chicago illustrated the power of sacrifice and prayer: “His honesty in confronting his challenges reminded me of something St. Paul said: ‘There is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches’ ” (2 Corinthians 4:15).