Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

A great leader of the Catholic Church in America passed away last week and will be buried on Thursday, with a service to be held at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, was without a doubt the leading intellectual light of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I am proud to say that I was ordained a bishop, by Cardinal George in January of 2001.

I had the privilege of learning what it meant to be a bishop serving as his auxiliary for more than four years. I watched him struggle with serious social issues, pastor the pastors and respond to the demand of lay organizations. He was a believer and his holiness was readily seen in the prayer life he maintained. He was generous with his time and, always the teacher, he confronted topics with an insight that left many amazed. He could take the most difficult topics and present them with a clarity that gave insight to even those who believed they had a firm understanding of the issue.

Stricken with polio at an early age, he struggled against the odds all of his life. His limp was very pronounced because he wore a large metal brace that limited his gait. However, it never stopped him from traveling or making appointments no matter where they occurred on the globe. In 2007, I traveled to India and visited a number of religious houses. One community of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate recounted the visit of Cardinal George when he was provincial of the OMIs. Polio never stopped him.

He replaced the popular Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, which would have intimidated many. Instead, he embraced the image created by Cardinal Bernardin by never placing himself in opposition or competition with the late cardinal. Once, when we had a conversation about Cardinal Bernardin, he remarked to me that with all the wonderful qualities that Archbishop Bernardin possessed, the one he most admired was his courage to die a public death. Cardinal George reflected that when we suffer and look to death, most of us desire to do so in private, maybe surrounded by some loved ones. Cardinal Bernardin was a public figure and even more so, a spiritual leader – the luxury of privacy were denied him. The community watched and measured his response to suffering and impending death which he did with grace and dignity.

Ironically, Cardinal George, in the last years of his life, had to do the same. He did so with the same courage, grace and dignity. There were thousands of questions: “How do you feel?” “What are the doctors saying about your condition?” “What are your plans?” He was always under the microscope. He knew that it was genuine concern and responded with fatherly care. Perhaps God afforded Cardinal George this time of impending death so that many admirers and naysayers could offer to him their thanks for the example he set and the influence he had in their lives. Even his harshest critics could not deny the genuine faith he possessed.

My last meeting with Cardinal George came just after Christmas. He traveled to Milwaukee with Fr. Dan Flens, his priest secretary and a loyal and selfless servant to the cardinal in the name of the Church. We had lunch at my residence and then made our way to the Calatrava and the exhibit of Italian art works entitled, “Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Paintings from Glasgow Museums.”

Being a very cultured man, the cardinal knew the works of many of the artists and commented upon the artistic development. At the art museum, many recognized the cardinal and wished him well; some even took pictures with him. Though weak and moving through with the use of a wheelchair, he was gracious with his time. As friends, we did not talk about his illness or death. Instead, as believers, we talked about faith and our favorite subject: the Church. We ended the day with cappuccino, which provided both of us a little sense of Rome.

God’s imprint is on every aspect of our lives. If I had not been ordained a bishop by Cardinal George, I wouldn’t have been the bishop of La Crosse and, now, the Archbishop of Milwaukee. I pray for the soul of Cardinal George and thank God for his leadership. He challenged us to follow our Lord and to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Note: This blog originally appeared as the April 22, 2015 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.