Pope Francis has chosen a bishop known as a moderate to replace retiring Cardinal Francis George as head of the high-profile Chicago archdiocese.
At a news conference Saturday, September 20, 2014, Cardinal George expressed his gratitude to Pope Francis for speeding up the appointment of a new archbishop, which would allow him to turn his attention to his battle with bladder cancer.
Blase Cupich will be Chicago’s ninth archbishop. Cupich will be formally installed on November 18, 2014 after getting oriented with his new position with Cardinal George.
Cupich was ordained to the priesthood on August 16, 1975, and then served as associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Church and instructor at Paul VI High School in Omaha until 1978. In the Archdiocese of Omaha, he served as director of the Office for Divine Worship and as chairman of the Commission on Youth from 1978 to 1981. Cupich completed his graduate studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and obtained his licentiate in 1979 and his doctorate of Sacred Theology in1987. His doctoral dissertation was entitled: Advent in the Roman Tradition: An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods.
On July 6, 1998, Cupich was appointed the seventh Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, by Pope John Paul II.
On June 30, 2010, Cupich was appointed as the sixth bishop of Spokane by Pope Benedict XVI, and was installed on September 3, 2010.
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