Pope Selects Bishop Blase Cupich to Replace Cardinal George

Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Wash., will succeed Cardinal Francis George as the leader of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the 2.2 million Catholics who live in Cook and Lake counties. Cardinal George has been urging the Vatican to find his successor since his cancer returned in August 2012. Cupich will take over in November.

Cupich has been outspoken in his advocacy for the poor and is said to be pragmatic, moderate and similar in his outlook on matters of faith and policy as Pope Francis.

“He’s open-minded. He’s pastoral. He’s pro-life,” the Rev. Tom Reese, a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, told the Chicago Tribune. “But he doesn’t have to be a culture warrior. He’s going to be a bishop in the image of Pope Francis.”

Over the weekend, Diocese of Joliet Bishop R. Daniel Conlon reacted to the pope’s choice.

“I am grateful to Pope Francis for appointing Bishop Blase Cupich to be the Archbishop of Chicago. Bishop Cupich provided excellent leadership as chairman of the US Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People,” Conlon said. “He also has the valuable experience of a seminary rector. I look forward to working with him and ask God’s blessings upon him, Cardinal Francis George, and all the members of the Archdiocese of Chicago.”