Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. is
Men of Tolentine's Man of the Year 2008

Prior General Robert F. Prevost, O.S.A. (right) presents the Man of the Year cross to Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, October 28, 2008. The Men of Tolentine honored Cardinal George as their 2008 Man of the Year.

Francis Cardinal George (left) chats with Jack Vlazny at the Men of Tolentine's Man of the Year Dinner. Vlazny is the President of the organization, which supports vocations and formation programs of the Augustinians of the Midwest.

Thomas McCarthy, O.S.A., President of St. Rita High School, Chicago, greet Francis Cardinal George at the Men of Tolentine's 2008 Man of the Year dinner. Father McCarthy was Man of the Year 2007.

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, is the Men of Tolentine's 2008 Man of the Year.

He received this honor at the organization's annual Man of the Year dinner October 30, 2008.

Francis George was born in Chicago in 1937. He entered the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1957. After studying Theology at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, he was ordained a priest in 1963.

He holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C., a Master's Degree in Theology form the University of Ottawa, a Doctorate in American Philosophy from Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, with specialization in Ecclesiology, from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome, Italy.

Cardinal George taught Philosophy at the Oblate Seminary, Pass Christian, Mississippi, at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, and at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska.

He was elected Provincial Superior of the Oblates' Midwest Province in 1973. In 1974, he was elected Vicar General of the Oblates. He served in this capacity in Rome until 1986.

Upon his return to the United States, he was named Coordinator of the Circle of Fellows for the Cambridge Center for the Study of Faith and Culture, Cambridge, Massachussetts.

Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Yakima, Washington, in 1990. Five and one-half years later, in 1996, he was named Bishop of Portland, Oregon. Less than a year later, he was called to serve as Archbishop of Chicago. He was installed in this office May 7, 1997. In 1998 Pope John Paul II elevated Archbishop George to the Sacred College of Cardinals.

Cardinal George is President of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He also serves as Chancellor of the Catholic Church Extension Society and the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Catholic University of America, a Trustee of the Papal Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a member of the Board of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D. C.

In addition to English, Cardinal George speaks French, Italian, Spanish and some German.

The Men of Tolentine, now called Friends of Tolentine, is a group of lay men and women organized in 1958 by the late Very Rev. John L. Seary, O.S.A., then Provincial of the Augustinians of the Midwest, to foster and support vocations to the Augustinian Order. Since its founding the organization has contributed more than $700,000 to Augustinian formation programs. The largest part of this amount has come from the annual Man/Woman of the Year event, held each October.

More information about the Friends of Tolentine may be obtained by calling Jack Vlazny, President, at 708-403-0358.