Archbishop Gregory Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, by Steve Visser, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 28, 2007

Archbishop Gregory Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

By Steve Visser
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
October 28, 2007

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/10/28/gregory_1029.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta is a fighter. He has fought to expose sexually abusive priests, stop anti-immigrant legislation, reduce abortions and end the death penalty, reminding Georgia lawmakers that Jesus Christ was victim of it.

Now he is fighting the second-leading cause of death by cancer of men in the United States. He told his staff this weekend that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, said Pat Chivers, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Surgery has been scheduled for Gregory for Nov. 5 at Emory Hospital, Chivers said.

Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is scheduled for surgery Nov. 5, according to an archdiocese spokeswoman.
Photo by Charlotte B. Teagle

She said the announcement stunned her because she saw Gregory as not only the leader of 650,000 Catholics in 69 counties in northern Georgia but also the paragon of health.

"He rises early, he exercises, and he eats healthy," Chivers said. "He is feeling very peaceful about [the cancer] and very confident it has been found early,"

The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is 100 percent if caught early enough, according to the American Association for Cancer Research.

Doctors then will be able to evaluate whether he will need any follow-up treatments such as radiation or, if the cancer is advanced, chemotherapy, according to the cancer research association.

Gregory asked that his staff rearrange his November schedule so he would have time to recuperate from the surgery, Chivers said.

While he is recuperating, Monsignors Joseph Corbett and Luis Zarama will keep up the archbishop's brisk meeting schedule and take care of the archdiocese's business, Chivers said.

Pope John Paul II appointed Gregory to the archdiocese nearly three years ago, succeeding Archbishop John Donoghue, who held the office for 11 years. Gregory is the sixth man to serve in the office.

In 2006, Gregory denounced a wave of immigration reform bills in state legislatures nationwide that sought to restrict health care, education and basic social services for illegal immigrants, saying they ignored the biblical call for "welcoming the stranger in our midst."

Catholic teaching says the dignity and rights of illegal immigrant should be respected, he said.

Chivers on Sunday said the growing Hispanic population has been one of the forces driving the increasing number of Catholics in metro Atlanta, along with migration from states with higher Catholic populations.

"We also have a lot of converts — we've had 5,000 in the last year or so," she said.

Earlier this year, Gregory spoke against capital punishment at a rally at the state Capitol. He asked lawmakers to think deeply about the biblical exhortation, "Thou shalt not kill."