Archdiocese of Chicago

Cardinal Francis George, a vigorous defender of Roman Catholic orthodoxy who led the U.S. bishops' fight against Obamacare and played a key role in the church's response to the clergy sex abuse scandal, has died. He was 78.

George, who retired as Chicago archbishop in the fall of 2014, died Friday morning after a long fight with cancer, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. He announced in December 2014 that doctors had determined their treatment for the cancer found on his kidney had failed.

Appointed to Chicago in 1997 by Pope John Paul II, George became a leading figure of his era in many of the most important events in the American church.

He oversaw the...