By Judy Valente
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
(RNS) The Rev. Andrew Greeley has been one of the best-known priests in America: a respected and influential sociologist, a best-selling novelist and an outspoken commentator on public and church issues for some 50 years.
"When the history of the American Catholic Church is written in America, I don't know if you're going to find a more significant name or a more impacting name on the church than Andrew Greeley," said the Rev. John Cusick, a friend and colleague who has known Greeley for 40 years.
Greeley was one of the first priests to publicly criticize the church's position on birth control. He also called for better preaching from the pulpit, a greater outreach to young people and a more active role for lay people such as Eileen Durkin, his niece.
"He would write and write and write, and it was a part of his life," Durkin told Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. "It couldn't be separated from him. It wasn't a chore for him. It just flowed out of him."
While the passion remains, Greeley's public life has come to an end. In November 2008, Greeley stepped out of a taxi in a Chicago suburb after a speaking engagement. His coat caught in the door, and as the taxi pulled away he was thrown to the pavement and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
"He's suffering," Durkin said. "Anyone who has had a traumatic brain injury to the extent my uncle has, anyone who is a vibrant, intelligent, brilliant person who is now reduced to 24-hour care is suffering."
Durkin said seeing her uncle's suffering "has not necessarily affected my faith, because I know of his faith. For 80 years, up until the accident, I observed his faith, and I certainly heard about his faith because he shared so much of it and wrote so much about it."
Greeley's steamy, often best-selling novels won him both fans and critics. He wasn't afraid to depict the sexual side of priests in his fiction and often included provocative sex scenes.
"He would say all the other things he did as a sociologist, as a novelist, as a commentator, were just his way of being a priest," Durkin said.
"He would always stir things up, and people would be yelling and screaming and saying, 'How can he say that? How can he write that?"' Cusick said. "And 10 years later they're saying it and they're writing it."
"Certainly," said Durkin, "the whole sexual abuse crisis in the church -- he was writing about that and identifying that long before it came out in most of the press in America."
As early as 1993, on the Phil Donahue television show, Greeley said he didn't believe the Vatican cared about the crisis.
And in 2002, Greeley said one of the church's biggest problems is the status of women.
"The church just has not been able to cope with the demands for fairness and equality from women, so they're very, very angry," he said. "For a long time the bishops could console themselves, and I think some still do, that these are just radical feminists. But the radical feminists include their sisters and their nieces and their mothers and all the women in their lives."
"He could drive the Vatican crazy, and I'm sure the Vatican could drive him crazy," Cusick said. "When push came to shove, he said I'm not leaving and you can't throw me out, and that was typical Greeley in his prime."
At a Mass celebrating the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood Greeley said he had wanted to be a priest ever since the second grade. After the accident, his family and friends wondered if he would ever again be able to say the Mass.
Last year, with his family around him, Greeley helped celebrate Easter Mass at Durkin's home, with his friend John Cusick presiding.
"The priest is still there," said Durkin. "All those years of being a priest, all those years of blessing -- they're still there. They're
still connecting, and we don't know what it all means, but we know that he's blessing, and we know that he is blessed, and he's blessing us, and it means a lot."
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.