Bishop Maher Honored in Ceremony at USD : Religion: Public appearance may be the last for the clergyman, who has brain cancer.

Bishop Leo T. Maher, the outspoken and outgoing leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, made his first public appearance Saturday since undergoing surgery for brain cancer.

Maher, 75, who spoke at the dedication of a University of San Diego building in his honor, retires this month as both bishop and chairman of the school’s board of trustees after more than two decades at the helm.

Saturday morning’s ceremony--in which DeSales Hall, the school’s administration building, was renamed Bishop Leo T. Maher Hall--had the flavor of a public going-away party, and diocese officials said later that the event would probably mark Maher’s last public appearance.

In his speech, the clergyman took the opportunity to continue his tradition of outspokenness, chastising public officials who have said that the burning of the U.S. flag is a right protected under the First Amendment.

“We’re going to bring our voice not only here, but to the Supreme Court of America and to every congressman,” Maher said. “Many of our values and symbols today are under some kind of attack.”

During his 21-year tenure as bishop, Maher created USD and oversaw its growth, made national headlines with his vocal anti-abortion views and received criticism from some who say his leadership demonstrated an insensitivity to the plight of migrant workers.

Maher appeared weakened by the two operations he had in late April and early May. With his manner, speech and energy clearly diminished, he skipped several passages of his prepared remarks and ad libbed at points, but stuck to the main theme of the speech, which diocese communications director Dan Pitre said Maher wrote mostly by himself.

Maher addressed the deterioration of symbols in education, religion and the nation.

At one point during the talk, which was given next to the lectern from his wheelchair, Maher’s brother, the Rev. Raymond Maher, rose from behind to assist him, but the bishop continued, finishing the four-page address.

The bishop, who reached the church’s mandatory retirement age July 1, has submitted his resignation letter to Pope John Paul II and is waiting for a reply. Bishop Robert H. Brom will then officially succeed him.

Doctors removed about 80% of a malignant tumor from the rear of Maher’s brain in the first operation, on April 25. Two weeks later, he underwent another to remove residual tumor tissue that was causing spinal fluid to accumulate in his brain. He returned to the hospital late last month for treatment of phlebitis, or inflamed veins, in his legs.

According to doctors, the life expectancy for patients who contract the fast-growing type of tumor Maher has is usually less than a year, but some live longer, depending on their response to treatment. Maher has had 36 radiation treatments since the surgery.

“I have good days and bad days, and I’ve had a pretty good appetite,” the bishop said at a press conference that followed the speech. “After radiation I have bad days.”

In reference to his retirement, he added, “The Lord is telling me something with all the sickness I’ve had.”

According to Pitre, who has worked closely with Maher the past few weeks because of the change in leadership, the bishop has lost much of the energy and exuberance that marked his public addresses.

“I think it’s just slowed him down a bit,” Pitre said. “He’s keeping my staff busy.”

Dr. William Doyle, a longtime friend, said the bishop has kept high spirits throughout his troubles.

“He’s got a remarkable personality. You won’t hear about his illness if you talk to him,” he said.

Doyle recently returned from a visit to Rome, where he presented a painting to a cardinal, then went to see Maher in the hospital.

“He didn’t talk about his (problems). He wanted to know if the cardinal liked the painting and where he was going to hang it. His mind is clear.”

Maher was born the fifth of nine children in rural Mount Union, Iowa, in 1915, the son of an Irish-born farmer. He moved to San Jose when he was 12 and was ordained a priest in San Francisco in 1943 after graduating from St. Patrick’s Major Seminary in Menlo Park.

Maher rose quickly in the church, becoming secretary to San Francisco Archbishop John Joseph Mitty in 1946. He was named chancellor of the San Francisco diocese in 1956, just 13 years after his ordination.

In 1962, he became the first bishop of the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Seven years later, after trips to Rome for the Second Vatican Council, he became bishop of the Diocese of San Diego at the age of 54.

He is known for his public stands against homosexuality, birth control, pornography, abortion, the Ku Klux Klan and drugs.

He gained nationwide notoriety as the first clergyman to denounce a politician for being pro-choice on abortion. Last November, he denied Communion to then-Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) after she broadcast TV commercials outlining her pro-choice stand during a successful late-1989 campaign for the state Senate.