Third Episcopal diocese splits off

A third theologically conservative diocese has broken away from the Episcopal Church in a long-running dispute over the Bible, gay relationships and other issues.

The Diocese of Quincy, Ill., took the vote at its annual meeting that ended Saturday.

Two other dioceses – San Joaquin, based in Fresno, Calif., and Pittsburgh – have already split off. Next weekend, the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, will vote whether to follow suit.

The three breakaway dioceses are aligning with the like-minded Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina, to try to keep their place in the world Anglican Communion. The 77-million-member Anglican fellowship, which includes the U.S. Episcopal Church, has roots in the missionary work of the Church of England.

Meanwhile, National Episcopal leaders are reorganizing the seceding dioceses with local parishioners who want to stay in the church. Complex legal fights have already started in San Joaquin over control of millions of dollars in diocesan property and assets.

Park Ridge, Ill.

Author Greeley critically injured

The Rev. Andrew Greeley is in critical condition at a Chicago-area hospital after falling and fracturing his skull.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that the 80-year-old Catholic priest and best-selling novelist is stable at a hospital in Park Ridge.

Greeley’s family says he snagged his jacket in the door of a taxicab Friday afternoon and fell. Friends say he suffered bleeding on the brain.

Greeley has written more than 50 novels, many of them international mystery thrillers. He writes a column for the Sun-Times that explores the relationship between religion and politics.

Evanston, Ill.

Woman, 90, kept sibling’s bodies

A 90-year-old woman apparently has been living in a house with the bodies of her three siblings, one of whom may have been dead since the early 1980s, police in suburban Chicago said.

The bodies were found Friday morning by police who were called by a senior advocate, said Evanston police Cmdr. Tom Guenther.

The 90-year-old woman was taken to a hospital for observation. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Saturday that the people had died of natural causes, but it would not say how long they had been dead.

Neighbors described the woman as alert and aware, and they said she was well-liked on their close-knit block of large historic homes. She enjoyed gardening and shared her plants with others, they said.

One longtime resident said the woman explained away her siblings’ absence by telling neighbors her brother had gone to live with other relatives and that one of her sisters was agoraphobic – afraid to leave the home.