A member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, George was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

On September 20, 2014, Pope Francis accepted George's resignation and appointed Bishop Blase J. Cupich to succeed him as Archbishop of Chicago.

[1] He continued his studies at the Oblates novitiate in Godfrey, Illinois, before entering Our Lady of the Snows Seminary in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

He obtained a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in 1988, with a thesis entitled: "Inculturation and communion".

[5] George returned to the United States, where he served as coordinator of the Circle of Fellows at the Center for the Study of Faith and Culture in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1987 to 1990).

[6] He received his episcopal consecration on September 21, 1990, from Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, with Bishops Roger Schwietz and William S. Skylstad serving as co-consecrators, at Holy Family Church in Yakima.

As a member of the USCCB, he served as chair of the Commission for Bishops and Scholars (1992 to 1994), and as a consultant to the Committees on Evangelization (1991 to 1993), Hispanic Affairs (1994 to 1997), and Science and Values (1994 to 1997).

[5] On April 30, 1996, George was appointed the ninth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon by John Paul II.

[3] On April 8, 1997, John Paul II appointed George as the eighth archbishop of Chicago, filling the vacancy left by the death of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin on November 14, 1996.

On January 18, 1998, John Paul II announced George's elevation to the College of Cardinals[8] with the title of cardinal-priest of Basilica of San Bartolomeo all'Isola in Rome.

Together we can continue the mission of Jesus Christ to bring the Gospel of love, forgiveness and holiness to all the places where we live and encounter others.

The State of Illinois had ruled that it would stop funding any charities that disqualified same-sex couples as foster care providers or adoptive parents.

In February 2010, George spoke at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, about the need for Catholics and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) to protect religious freedom.

"In recent years, Catholics and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have stood more frequently side by side in the public square to defend human life and dignity," George also praised the LDS for its efforts to combat poverty, pornography and single-sex marriage.

[17]When a new route was proposed for the 2012 annual Chicago Pride Parade that would take it past a Catholic church, George told an interviewer: "you don't want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.

In a 2013 a pastoral letter to the Archdiocese of Chicago, George stated that the passage of a same-sex marriage legislation in Illinois, which appeared imminent, would be "acting against the common good of society.

This proposed legislation will have long-term consequences because laws teach; they tell us what is socially acceptable and what is not, and most people conform to the dictates of their respective society, at least in the short run".

[23] In September 2014, in his column in The Catholic New World, George alleged that the US Government and society were now approving sexual relationships so at odds with Catholic teaching that "the church's teaching on these issues is now evidence of intolerance for what the civil law upholds and even imposes" and that "those who do not conform to the official religion, we are warned, place their citizenship in danger."

"[24]In September 2014, George met with a gay music director of a Catholic parish who had been fired after announcing his intention to marry his partner.

In 2010, Benedict XVI appointed George to the Pontifical Commission for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See.

George served as conventual chaplain ad honorem of the Federal Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and grand prior of the North Central Lieutenancy of the United States for the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, George belonged to the American Catholic Philosophical Association, the American Society of Missiologists, and the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs.

[27] On January 16, 2012, George submitted his letter of resignation as archbishop of Chicago to Benedict XVI, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

He named Monsignor Peter F. Śnieg, rector of St. Joseph's Seminary at Loyola University Chicago, as moderator of the curia for the archdiocese.

On the liturgical stuff, I knew it had to be done and that I was in a particularly key spot to see to that what's most important in handing on the traditions of the Church, namely our way of prayer and our liturgy, was going to be more faithfully presented to the people.

[30] He was hospitalized for several days at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago after showing flu-like symptoms and signs of dehydration.

George and the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, agreed that the Vatican should start looking for his successor.

[40] On September 20th, Pope Francis accepted George's resignation as archbishop of Chicago and named Bishop Blase J. Cupich as his successor.

The burial service took place at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois, where he was buried in the George family plot per his wishes.

With gratitude for Cardinal George's witness of consecrated life as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, his service to the Church's educational apostolate and his years of episcopal ministry in the Churches of Yakima, Portland and Chicago, I join you in commending the soul of this wise and gentle pastor to the merciful love of God, our heavenly Father.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated: "Cardinal Francis George led a remarkable life of faith and service.