Bishop in Stable Condition After Tumor Removal

Roman Catholic Bishop Leo T. Maher of San Diego remained in serious but stable condition Wednesday after doctors at Scripps Clinic & Research Institution in La Jolla removed most of a cancerous growth from the rear of his brain.

Maher, who will turn 75 July 1, will remain hospitalized about a week. The spiritual leader of 465,000 Catholics in San Diego and Imperial counties is “in serious condition, but we’re optimistic that he’ll recover,” said Dr. Thomas Waltz, who performed the 2 1/2-hour operation Wednesday morning. Maher has “come along well following the operation. He’s well awake now,” Waltz said.

During a Wednesday press conference, Waltz described the tumor as “life-threatening” because it “would have . . . and might still continue to grow.” Surgeons removed about 80% of the growth, which was about 3 inches in diameter. Maher will be advised to undergo radiation therapy to keep the remaining growth from increasing in size, Waltz said.

Researchers do not yet understand why the “astrocytomas” form and why some quickly return after surgery, Waltz said. While tumors with “low aggressiveness might not come back for decades . . . the more aggressive ones may come back in a few months,” Waltz said.

Waltz said it is difficult to classify the type of tumor Maher has as benign or malignant. “The good thing about these tumors is that they don’t spread to other parts of the body,” Waltz said.

Maher, who was named bishop of the local diocese in 1969, made national headlines last fall when he prohibited Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego), who was running for a vacant State Senate seat, from receiving Communion because of her support of legal abortion. Some observers believe Maher’s unprecedented order--and the flurry of media coverage that it generated--helped Killea win an upset victory last November against Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon).

Maher, who recently complained to associates about a lack of physical strength, was admitted to Scripps Hospital on Monday for testing. He grew concerned during a recent out-of-town trip when he lost his balance while trying to get out of the way of an oncoming car, doctors said.

Doctors were uncertain if Maher will totally regain physical strength and peripheral vision that were damaged by the growth. However, Maher’s “mental status was good, and he was talking well” prior to the operation, according to Dr. Donald Dalessio, a Scripps neurologist who examined Maher on Monday.

Maher, who is slated to retire July 1, will remain at the helm of the diocese that includes 465,000 Catholics at 99 parishes in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to Bishop Robert H. Brom, coadjutor bishop of the diocese. “Those who assist the bishop (in the diocese) . . . will be assisting Bishop Maher in his period of recovery even more than we do when he is at his desk,” Brom said during Wednesday’s press conference.

Brom said that the Catholic diocese Tuesday “requested prayers from all members of the faith community . . . and from our Protestant and Jewish brothers and sisters as well.” The diocese believes that, based upon doctors’ reports, Maher will “recover quite rapidly,” Brom said.

Maher was awake and talking with doctors just hours after the operation, Waltz said. “In fact, he gave me instructions about an hour ago as to what I was to say (to reporters). . . . What he said was to tell the truth, and to tell it as it was, which I have done.”

During Maher’s recovery, Brom and Auxiliary Bishop Gilbert E. Chavez will assume the bishop’s duties. Maher “will continue as bishop” until his 75th birthday July 1, when he will be succeeded by Brom, who came to San Diego last year. Catholic Church regulations demand that bishops retire at 75.

Maher’s medical problems became noticeable during a recent vacation, Dalessio said. Doctors initially suspected that Maher had suffered a mild stroke because his physical problems were so slight.

However, tests quickly uncovered the tumor, and surgery was immediately scheduled for Wednesday morning. Doctors, who described the tumor as cancerous, said there was no evidence that the growth had spread elsewhere in Maher’s body.

Doctors were unable to completely remove the growth because this type of tumor “infiltrates among functioning brain cells,” Waltz said. “We removed probably 75% to 80%.”

The location of the tumor determines what physical and mental functions are affected. Some tumors “take away all-important neurological functions . . . (but) in other sites they’re much more easily tolerated,” Waltz said. “This one was kind of intermediate. It took away some functions but fortunately, not mental functions.”

“I don’t think he was in critical danger in terms of hours or days, but these tumors do progress and eventually cause pressure on the rest of the brain,” Waltz said. “When that occurs, patients tend to lose consciousness”

Diocesan officials have described Maher as a bishop who is inclined to take vocal stands on controversial subjects such as birth control, abortion and homosexuality. In 1987, during a 25th anniversary celebration of his appointment as a bishop, the diocese described Maher as a “moral watchdog” for the city of San Diego.

That reputation was enhanced last fall when Maher gained national attention with the two-page letter to Killea that described the long-time Democrat as an “advocate of this most heinous crime.” Maher banned Killea from receiving Communion unless she recanted her pro-choice position. Killea subsequently agreed to abide by Maher’s order, but said she had “no intention of changing a position I arrived at after a lot of very serious thought.”

That controversy resurfaced this month when the University of San Diego called off a political conference because Killea was scheduled to attend. Officials at USD, which Maher helped to create, maintained that Killea’s presence would have been an affront to Maher.

Maher became bishop in San Diego in 1969. He previously served as founding bishop of the Catholic Diocese in Santa Rosa. Maher joined the priesthood in 1943.

Diocesan officials credit Maher with eliminating an $11-million debt that existed when he took over the diocese in 1969.