Chicago priest Greeley still in critical condition

A message on the Rev. Andrew Greeley's Web page says that the popular best-selling novelist remains in critical but stable condition after a fall that fractured his skull.

Greeley's niece Julie Montague wrote Saturday on the Web site that doctors were hopeful and pleased with the 80-year-old priest's progress. Greeley has been hospitalized at Advocate Lutheran Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge.

The message also says that the head of the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese, Cardinal Francis George, visited Greeley this past Wednesday and prayed at his bedside.

Greeley's family has said that the newspaper columnist and commentator was injured Nov. 7 when he snagged his jacket in the door of a taxicab and fell, hitting his head.