The live stream of the Mass is now over.
Blase Cupich accepted the call to serve as the archbishop of Chicago on Tuesday when his predecessor handed him a bishop’s staff and relinquished the chair that symbolizes the leadership of the nation’s third-largest diocese.
During the Mass, the transfer of power was completed as Cardinal Francis George, who is retiring as he battles cancer, stepped aside after being the spiritual leader of more than 2 million Catholics since 1997.
The installation of the 65-year-old Cupich — bishop of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, when he was selected by Pope Francis to succeed George — marks the first time in the history of the Chicago archdiocese that a new archbishop will assume leadership while his predecessor is still alive.
