Prolific author and outspoken priest who challenged his superior

Fr Andrew M Greeley, an outspoken Catholic priest who wrote more than 50 novels and publicly feuded with his superior, John Cardinal Cody, has died at the age of 85.

Greeley also wrote more than 100 works of non-fiction, including Priests: A Calling in Crisis and The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old Wineskins and the Second Vatican Council. His writings also covered education, sex, ethnicity, euthanasia, politics, war and other topics, and his engaging manner made him a sought-after interview subject on television.

His sometimes racy fiction dealt with some of the challenges facing the church. The Priestly Sins, published in 2004 during the height of the sex abuse scandal, focused on an idealistic priest who reported child abuse by a fellow priest.

Greeley, who recently celebrated his 59th anniversary as a priest, criticised church leadership over its position on birth control and the handling of the sexual abuse crisis. “He served the church all those years with a prophetic voice and with unfailing dedication, and the church he and our parents taught us to love is a better place because of him,” read a family statement.

He had masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago, and was a research associate with the university's national opinion research centre and a professor of sociology at the University of Arizona.

Bestsellers
Many of his novels were bestsellers. The Cardinal Sins in 1981, the story of an archbishop who fathers a child sold more than three million copies.

Greeley famously feuded with Cardinal Cody of Chicago - whom he called a monster, crazy and "one of the most truly evil men I have ever known" – but he denied the cardinal was the basis for the archbishop in The Cardinal Sins.

"People like stories. We are all story tellers," he once said. "I'm convinced that people followed Jesus because he was a good storyteller." He also told The New York Times that he had the Irish weakness for words gone wild", adding: "Besides, if you're celibate you have to do something."

His books made him wealthy and he owned an apartment in an upmarket downtown Chicago building. He responded to criticism of his wealth by telling People magazine. "What I do with my money is between me and God and the IRS. I think I'm generous with it. I'm willing to face God on the way I've spent it."

Brain injury
He established a $1 million endowment at the University of Chicago for Catholic studies. He also gave money for scholarships to the Chicago archdiocese.

Greeley had been silenced in 2008, when he suffered a fall after his clothing got caught in the door of a taxi as it pulled away. A resulting brain injury left him unable to write or make public appearances, according to his niece, Laura Durkin.

He is survived by a sister, five nieces, two nephews and 18 grand nieces and nephews.