Posted on 05/30/2013 7:24:47 PM PDT by marshmallow
Rev. Greeley was a best-selling novelist, prolific priest and long-time NBC analyst
Best-selling novelist and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rev. Andrew Greeley has passed away. He was 85.
Greeley, a prolific priest, sociologist and long-time NBC analyst, wrote more than 50 novels, including international mystery thrillers that were translated into 12 languages.
In a statement, his family said their lives "have been tremendously enriched by having the presence of Fr. Andrew Greeley in our family."
"He served the Church all those years with a prophetic voice and with unfailing dedication, and the Church he and our parents taught us to love is a better place because of him. Our hearts are heavy with grief, but we find hope in the promise of Heaven that our uncle spent his life proclaiming to us, his friends, his parishioners and his many fans. He resides now with the Lord of the Dance, and that dance will go on."
Greeley was known for his conviction. During the priest sex abuse crisis as early as 1991, he was one of the very few priests who criticized the church leadership for refusing to disclose priest accusations.
In 2010, Greeley released a study based on a poll of more than 500 Illinois Catholics that found their faith is still burning brightly with 78 percent of respondents saying Catholicism is either “extremely important” or “very important” in their lives.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcchicago.com ...
He was also a professor at the University of Arizona, IIRC.
Greeley, a prolific priest
What do they mean when they say he was a "prolific priest"?
Yes and was a priest when he was here at our parish. Our Monsignor recently went to see him in Chicago as they were close friends. I didn’t know him when he was here, but the lady I was talking to today about him said he was very funny.
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Greeley was, amongst other things, a soft core pornographer. The DLEMM always fails to mention that.
"He resides now with the Lord of the Dance, and that dance will go on."
Assumes facts not in evidence, kids. May Almighty God have mercy on the soul of Andrew Greeley.
They mean he was busy.
May Almighty God have mercy on the soul of Andrew Greeley.
He was an unabashed liberal and a pain in the derriere to the Church he was a priest within. No loss here.
Back in the 1970’s, he was very critical of Jimmy Carter. Sadly, he backed pro-abort candidates in recent years. May God have mercy on his soul.
The answer can be given on three different levels. First, no one knows what a writer at NBC in general means when she says whatever it is she says. You and I use words to communicate, NBC uses words to obfuscate. Maybe she meant he liked dogs more than cats, maybe that the moon looked blue that day. I don't know. Especially this disconnection between the words and their meaning is apparent when anyone in the press ventures into discussing the Catholic Church; they begin to say the darnedest things.
Secondly, the answer is right in the article. He was a priest and also a prolific writer. When the mind of a 9 year old scans the preceding 9 words, it edits: "he was a prolific priest". 5 words. Can't argue with that.
But yes, one can be a prolific priest in the proper manner of speaking. Priest is not just a vocation, it is also a job: daily Mass, weddings, funerals, hospital visits. Now comes the prolific part: confessions and spiritual instruction. I once was in a long confession line (a few days before Christmas) and the priest emerged from the booth and said: "Please, this time tell me your sins but do not explain me your sins. The Mass starts in 30 minutes and I cannot here you all otherwise". That was a busy priest. Now I also enjoy a friendship with a priest; it is thanks to him my wife converted to Catholicism. We would have him over in our house for dinner and in the middle of conversation he would say "I got to go to see someone else" and he would leave. And we wrote a dissertation. And his homilies are research pieces. And he would find time to sit around a bottle of wine with us because my wife was asking him all these questions. A priest can hear a confession in 1 minute, or he can hear the same confession and take 30 minutes. People need to take time talking about their sin, but also talk about their righteous struggles, ask questions, seek conversion, offer penance. One serving his flock would have people seeking him out all the time, because he is their father. That is a prolific priest. The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.
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