U.S. Cardinal Bernardin says has terminal cancer .
CHICAGO 1996-08-30
Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin , head of the second-largest U.S. Roman Catholic archdiocese , said on Friday his doctors had diagnosed him as having liver cancer and he had a year or less to live .
Bernardin , 68 , underwent extensive surgery for pancreatic cancer in June 1995 followed by months of chemotherapy , which he said made him more aware of his own vulnerabilities and the need to minister to the sick .
" On Wednesday , examinations indicated that the cancer has returned , this time in the liver .
I am told that it is terminal and that my life expectancy is one year or less , " a composed Bernardin told a news conference .
In 14 years as Chicago 's archbishop , he built a prayerful , saintly image and was deeply involved in world church issues and publicly committed to rooting out abuses by clergy .
" I have been assured that I still have some quality time left , " he said , saying he would undergo a new form of chemotherapy but his doctors have told him there was only a slim chance of a cure and the liver cancer was inoperable .
" It 's not going to be easy to say goodbye to everybody .
Death does have some sad dimensions to it but I am a man of faith , " he said . "
Death is a natural phenomenom . "
He said he would " serve until the end " as cardinal .
Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly forms of the disease , although Bernardin 's case was caught early .
Surgeons removed a cancerous kidney , parts of his pancreas and stomach , small intestine , bile duct and surrounding tissues .
He made a rapid recovery and resumed most of his duties , but then developed a deteriorating condition in his spine that caused him great pain and shortened his height by several inches .
He was scheduled to undergo back surgery next month , but that was cancelled when the cancer was discovered in his liver in order to avoid delaying the start of chemotherapy .
The spare , soft-spoken son of an Italian stonecutter took over the Chicago archdiocese , the nation 's second-largest after Los Angeles , with 2.3 million parishioners , in 1982 .
Ironically , Bernardin , who developed a progressive , much-praised programme to deal with pedophilia involving priests , became the highest-ranking church official ever accused of sexual improprieties when a former seminary student leveled charges in 1993 that he had been sexually abused by Bernardin during the 1970s .
Bernardin steadfastly denied the charges and the former student later recanted his tale of abuse .
Bernardin prayed with him before he died from AIDS last year .
Bernardin , who became archbishop of Cincinnati in 1972 , played an increasingly prominent role in the U.S. church as a moderate voice of compromise among liberals and conservatives in the ranks of the bishops .
This month , he announced that he would oversee a series of conferences to find " common ground " among American Catholics .
Previously , he was instrumental in drafting church policy on war , peace and nuclear arms , and for seven years he headed the bishops ' anti-abortion policy committee , espousing a policy describing human life as a " seamless garment . "