George Cardinal Mundelein

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George Cardinal Mundelein became such a beloved pastoral leader that over a million people made a pilgrimage as his body lay in state at Holy Name Cathedral. Several scholars have affectionally dubbed him the American Pope. ^{[citation needed]}

George William Mundelein, later George Cardinal Mundelein, (July 2, 1872–October 2, 1939) was an America prelate, the eighth bishop (third archbishop) of the Roman Catholic diocese of Chicago, serving from 1915 to 1939 (succeeded Archbishop James Edward Quigley).

[edit] Biography

He was born on July 20, 1872 in New York City to a family of German ancestry, educated at La Salle Academy in New York, Manhattan College, St. Vincent Seminary, in Rome, and ordained a priest on June 8, 1895 in the Diocese of Brooklyn. From 1895 to 1909, he served at Williamsburg, Pa. [1]On June 30, 1909 he was appointed Titular Bishop of Loryma and Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, New York, where he was ordained a bishop on September 21, 1909. He was appointed Archbishop of Chicago, on December 9, 1915 and installed February 9, 1916. He was elevated to Cardinal on March 24, 1924, and served as archbishop until his death at the age of 67.

During his tenure at the Archdiocese of Chicago, Mundelein launched an effort to unify ethnic Catholic groups such as the Poles and Italians into territorial, instead of ethnic, parishes with mixed success.

The archdiocese greatly expanded its charity functions during the Great Depression, rivalling that of the Jewish Charities of Chicago. A city-wide network of St. Vincent de Paul Societies was established.