While he was certainly honored to be named a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II, there must have been a small twinge in the heart of Francis George when the title was bestowed upon him. After all, the Cardinal is a Cub fan, and every Cubs fan knows that being called a Cardinal must be a bittersweet experience at best.

Cardinal George grew up on the Northwest Side of Chicago, and has been rooting for the Cubs since he was a young boy. It was one of the first things he told the press when he was named the Archbishop of Chicago in May of 1997. He considered a Cubs victory on the day he was installed a sign that being named the spiritual leader of Chicago's 2.4 million Roman Catholics was meant to be.

Cardinal George was interviewed for the upcoming documentary film "We Believe" (due out in June 2009). The filmmaker, John Scheinfeld, wasn't surprised to hear the Cardinal talk in general terms about the concept of believing in something with sheer faith, but he got much more than that. He got a Cardinal that has followed this team for sixty years and has given the subject matter a great deal of thought. George sees parallels between being a Christian, and being a Cubs fan.

Scheinfeld describes the Cardinal's take on it this way: "Being a Cubs fan is not dissimilar to eschatological faith, which is sort of 'next year in Jerusalem.' It's sort of, 'Jesus will be coming back at one point. We know it's going to happen, but we don't know when.'"

Cardinal George is absolutely right about that.

"Wait til next year" is something Christians have been saying for way longer than a measly 100 years.

No wonder the Cardinal is Cubs fan.