The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago announced Friday that Francis Cardinal George, archbishop emeritus, has died after a long battle with cancer. The 78-year-old, who had been regarded as the intellectual leader of the Catholic Church in America, decided last fall to cease treatment for his latest bout with cancer after the experimental drugs proved ineffective. Cardinal George underwent surgery for bladder cancer in 2006 and six years later, the disease showed up in his kidney. Cardinal George led Chicago-area Catholics for 17-years before retiring last fall because of his illness. A native of Chicago's northwest side, Cardinal George had overcome polio as a child to eventually become the eighth archbishop of Chicago's more than two-million Catholics.
A funeral service will be held next Thursday.
