Chicago, IL (December 22, 2008) - Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, will observe the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with liturgical celebrations at Holy Name Cathedral and the Cook County Department of Corrections. The Cardinal will also continue his annual Christmas tradition of visiting with seriously ill children and their families at Children’s Memorial Hospital.

As is his custom, Cardinal George will be the main celebrant and homilist at Midnight Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, State and Superior Streets. The evening’s liturgical music program will begin at 11:30 p.m on Christmas Eve, December 24; Mass will follow at 12:00 a.m. on December 25. WGN-TV (Channel 9) will broadcast the Midnight Mass live on Christmas Eve from Holy Name Cathedral for viewers in Chicago and the suburbs; coverage begins at 12 a.m. Father Greg Sakowitz will provide English language commentary throughout the broadcast while Father Claudio Diaz, Jr. will provide Spanish language commentary, available on the SAP (Secondary Audio Program) channel. This year WGN’s Super Station will not carry the Mass live outside the Chicago area, however they will provide a tape-delay telecast at 7:30 a.m. Christmas morning, Central time.

On Christmas morning, December 25, Cardinal George will celebrate 9 a.m. Mass with men detained in Cook County Jail’s Division 11 medium-security facility at 2800 South California Blvd. The Cardinal will then travel to Children's Memorial Hospital, 2300 Children’s Plaza, (at the southeast corner of Halsted St. and Fullerton and Lincoln Avenues) for an 11 a.m. visit with hospitalized children who cannot be home for Christmas. Gordon Bass, the hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, will join with the Cardinal as he meets with the children and their families.

Cardinal George’s 2008 Christmas message, his annual Christmas letter to parishioners in English, Polish and Spanish, and the Cardinal’s Christmas video can be viewed on the Archdiocesan web site, www.archchicago.org.