January 28, 2007 Archbishop of Chicago To Speak on Feb. 13

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Public Contact: Daniel Rose (202) 707-5355
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Cardinal Francis George, eighth Archbishop of Chicago, will present a lecture titled “What Kind of Democracy Leads to Secularization?” at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13, in the Members’ Room on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.

Sponsored by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, the event is free and open to the public. Attendance is limited to 75 seats.

Cardinal George is the first native Chicagoan to serve as Archbishop of Chicago. Among his many degrees, he holds a master’s in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, where he serves on the board of trustees. After serving as Vicar General of the Oblates in Rome for 12 years, Cardinal George returned to the United States as coordinator of the Circle of Fellows for the Cambridge Center for the Study of Faith and Culture in Cambridge, Mass. During that time, he obtained a doctorate of Sacred Theology in ecclesiology from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome.

Before being appointed Archbishop of Chicago by Pope John Paul II, Cardinal George served as the fifth Bishop of Yakima, Wa., and the ninth Archbishop of Portland, Ore. He is a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals, where he participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. He also serves as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cardinal George is also the publisher of The Catholic New World and Chicago Catolico, the official newspapers of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

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PR 07-007
2007-01-29
ISSN 0731-3527