CHICAGO — Andrew Greeley, a Roman Catholic priest and a prolific writer whose outpouring of sociological research, contemporary theology, sexually frank novels and blunt-spoken newspaper columns challenged reigning assumptions about American Catholicism, was found dead Thursday morning at his home in Chicago. He was 85.
His niece Laura Durkin confirmed the death. He had been under 24-hour care, she said, since suffering head injuries in 2008 when his clothing caught on the door of a taxi as it pulled away and he was thrown to the pavement.
He wrote more than 120 books, many published by university presses, and countless articles about Catholic theology in both sociological journals and general-interest magazines, often incorporating the latest scholarship. He wrote op-ed pieces and syndicated columns in both the religious and secular press. His greatest readership stemmed from his scores of novels, many of them rife with Vatican intrigue, straying priests and explicit sex. At least 10 of them appeared on The New York Times’ best-seller list.
The books made him rich, though he gave his first million to charity and continued to give to various causes, including the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a support group that goes by the acronym SNAP.
