In his own words – Francis Cardinal George (1937 – 2015)

It will come as no shock to our readers – or to the millions who are not – that Chicago, Cook county and the state of Illinois are corrupt to the core.  Not every single person of course, but you will not go broke betting on self dealing by a politician or bureaucrat or union master in these political entities.

But if we just look, even in a very corrupt civil society, we will find, if we are fortunate,  a voice of truth and reason and just cause.

Such was the case with the people of Cook and Lake counties – including Chicago – in Illinois.  They have been blessed with one of the great voices in our history.  A very plain man if you overlook his intellect and his comprehension.  If you can see beyond his foundation and his fundamentals.  His teaching and compassion.  What do we have when we overlook these characteristics of this man?  Well just a fellow who we all might do well to listen to occasionally, think about occasionally, even get down on our knees and say a prayer for occasionally.

Men like Francis Cardinal George seldom appear – and they darn near never appear in Chicago or Cook county or the state of Illinois.

The Cardinal grasps the basic issue – a government creating itself as a religion – slowly, inevitably with the unconscious support of everyone with a claim for something except a guiding principle or fundamental.  A government religion is made for those who see their unique issue as their shining and guiding light.  And the dustbin of history overflows with governments who have followed this path.

Here is Cardinal George speaking --

"I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

And here is the next sentence, “His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."

The profound reality of these few words; this prophecy; the recognition that we must decline and fail before we can rebuild, is devastating.  But unavoidably true.  And we see it everywhere, but nowhere as overwhelming as in our very own homeland, today.

Cardinal George, RIP.

Please read these words, written very recently by George:

“In this country, we do not fear being killed for our faith. What, then, are we afraid of? We are afraid that the institutions that perform the works of mercy that have been integral to the church’s mission for centuries will be forced to become, effectively, government institutions, given permission to exist only if they do not act as Catholic. At stake are Catholic hospitals, Catholic universities and Catholic social services, precisely as Catholic. At stake also is a society that once permitted many different voices and faiths to contribute to the common good without compromising their collective conscience.

The issue has clustered around the HHS mandate that insists that any institution serving the public must treat women’s fertility as an enemy to be suppressed for the sake of women’s freedom. In fact, the government has made many exceptions to this rule, but has steadfastly refused to exempt Catholic institutions. The issue is therefore in the courts.

The imposition of a definition of marriage that destroys the natural meaning of marital union is becoming another test case for religious liberty. The law now holds that men and women are interchangeable in marriage, as if children did not need both a mother and a father to be born and raised with some security. These are laws that mark societies in decline, demographically as well as morally.

What has happened to our vaunted American liberties? Except for property rights, they are all being traded off in favor of freedom of sexual expression. That “freedom” has become the trump card in almost every social dispute. While the public conversation plays the game of liberal versus conservative, there is really only one issue: freedom versus tyranny, a tyranny masquerading as compassion and suppressing legally differences that seem to threaten abstract “equality.”

Cardinal George was described as one not going gently into that night.  Here is a link to the archive of Cardinal George's columns and thoughts.  Recommended reading - George, In His Own Words: 

http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/cardinal_archive.aspx

Here is the specific link to George on the topic of government supplanting religion:

http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/2012/1021/cardinal.aspx 

And here is the specific link to Cardinal George's thinking about marriage:

http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/2013/0609/cardinal.aspx

This very wise man - his words as well as his deeds, are there.  For us all.  Step up, if you so choose, and embrace them.  If you are lost or uncertain, try reading them.  Perhaps, occasionally, ponder his words.  This man is a prophet who lived among us and never sought anything other than truth.