By Rachel Gordon
San Francisco Chronicle
August 31, 2011
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2011/08/31/BAVM1KTR6G.DTL
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| Michael Macor / The Chronicle |
San Francisco -- Archbishop George Niederauer, head of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, was recovering Tuesday from double bypass heart surgery after experiencing chest pains while vacationing in Southern California.
Church officials said that the surgery, performed Monday at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, was successful, and that Niederauer was listed in good condition in the intensive care unit.
"Everything seems to be OK. He's recovering as the doctors expected," George Wesolek, spokesman for the archdiocese, said Tuesday.
The archbishop was on vacation with his predecessor, Cardinal William Levada, who, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is the highest-ranking American church official at the Vatican.
Niederauer had been complaining of discomfort in his chest over the weekend. That prompted Levada to take his longtime friend to the emergency room Sunday night. Doctors gave him an angiogram and suggested he remain in the hospital overnight for observation. The next day cardiologists recommended surgery.
The 75-year-old archbishop oversees the Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties. Prior to being named San Francisco's eighth archbishop in 2006, Niederauer served as bishop of Salt Lake City.
Contact: rgordon@sfchronicle.com
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