I've had the interesting honor of interviewing Roman Catholic priest turned "controversial author" the Rev. Andrew Greeley a number of times during my journalism career.

One of the last times was a few years back at his weekend home in New Buffalo, Mich., (where he is neighbors to fellow writer Roger Ebert) while he was promoting his latest book.

I was saddened before the holidays to hear of his unfortunate accident which landed him the hospital for a few months.

He has finally been released from the hospital and returned home, with care and assistance from his nieces and nephews.

Since he is a featured regular columnist in The Chicago Sun-Times, the newspaper has done a nice job of keeping readers informed with updates on Greeley's mending progress, as has his own personal Web site agreeley.com.

The latest statement from his family was released Jan. 15: "Father Greeley has been discharged from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) and returned home where he will continue intensive therapy for traumatic brain injury. His family wishes to express deep appreciation to the RIC physicians and support staff for the outstanding care he received, and to all his friends and fans who have been praying for him. He is being attended to by his family and a top notch medical staff. Until further notice, we are opening his Internet blog up to those who wish to leave a message or prayer for Father Greeley. Peace, good health, and may God bless everyone."

As for the story behind 80-year-old Greeley's accident, at about 3:30 p.m. Friday Nov. 7, the best-selling novelist was exiting a taxi at the Rosemont CTA Blue Line train station to return to his home downtown after speaking at an academic conference.

His clothing got stuck on the door as the taxi driver pulled away, according to the Rosemont police spokesman.

Greeley fractured his skull and left orbital bone near his eye, said friend and attorney Terry Goggin and he was in critical condition when he arrived to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where doctors used CT scans and installed a device in his skull to monitor pressure on his brain, since he had suffered head injuries from the fall.

Greeley, born and raised in Oak Park, Ill., is a Catholic sociologist and faculty member at University of Chicago and has written more than 120 books.

And he's famous for his outspoken views.

It was 1984 and I was just 13 the first time I remember hearing someone introduce me to his name.

My high school catechism Sunday School teacher Stanley Pieza and his wife Anne knew Greeley personally and mentioned him once during one of our class lessons.

He had a personally signed copy of Greeley newest novel "The Cardinal Sins," published in 1981 in his home library and I remember asking him after class (which was held in the library of his home which was near our farm) if I could borrow the book.

"Well, I'd better ask your mamma and your papa first when they come to pick you up," I distinctly recall him saying with a smile and a twinkle in his Lithuanian blue eyes.

"They may not approve of you reading such a book or me letting you borrow it."

Pieza was not only a fellow member of our All Saints Church in San Pierre, but also the former religion editor of The Chicago Daily American, owned and directly operated by the late newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.

Pieza, who died in March 1994 at the age of 88, had audiences with four popes and interviewed four U.S. presidents, as well as having countless notable friends like Greeley.

What made Greeley's novel "The Cardinal Sins" so controversial?

A better question might be: What didn't make it controversial?

For starters, the book jacket featured a shapely nude female figure draped in a scarlet red regal cloak of fabric.

The book included adult themes, adult language, sexual situations, adultery, homosexuality, scandal, gossip and more.

But the most shocking, the characters in the book, a priest torn by his vows and his friend and colleague from his seminary days who has climbed the ladder of church hierarchy to become a Cardinal and abuses his power and the church's wealth, were rumored by many to have been based on Greeley and his own church superior at the time of the book's creation: Chicago Cardinal John Cody who died at age 74 in 1982 in the midst of scandal and headlines, refusing Pope Paul VI's instructions to "step down" following revelations by the Chicago newspapers that he had a mistress and had misused church funds which resulted in a Grand Jury probe underway at the time of his death.

He was succeeded in the summer of 1982 by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.

Greeley has also been criticized throughout his career for not abiding by the usual "priestly vows" of "poverty and obedience" (which are not required by all Catholic clergy, depending on each affiliation) when asked to not write books about what many viewed to be "inappropriate subject matter for a man of the cloth" and gaining a great deal of wealth from the substantial earnings of his books. His willingness to frequently appear on the talk shows of Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey discussing what his fellow priests deemed "sensitive subjects" further agitated church officials.

In 1986, the Archdiocese of Chicago refused a $1 million donation by Greeley from his book sales.

However, in 2003, they did accept a similar donation for nearly half a million.

An outspoken critic of the George W. Bush and the Iraq War, he also caused a stir by donating "several thousand dollars" to the 2008 presidential campaign of President Barack Obama, which because of the Catholic Church's teachings about "pro-life" and Obama's stance on "pro-choice" prompted accusations of "a conflict of the priestly collar."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

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