Bishop Pelotte's surgery delayed

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

Sister Raya Blanca holds a Rosary while praying at the Casa Reina Perpetual Adoration Chapel on Thursday evening. The Sisters of our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph were holding a special prayer service for the recently injured Roman Catholic Bishop of Gallup Donald E. Pelotte. The Holy Rosary will be recited every hour on the hour by the Sisters at the Casa Reina Chapel until the Bishop gets better. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Indendent]

GALLUP — Although his medical condition continues to be listed as serious, Bishop Donald Pelotte did not undergo scheduled surgery on Thursday because of improvements in his condition.

Pelotte, 62, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, is hospitalized at John C. Lincoln Hospital in Phoenix.According to chancery officials, Pelotte suffered serious head injuries after falling in his Gallup home on Sunday. He was airlifted to Phoenix on Monday.

Pelotte's surgery has been postponed until next week, said the Rev. James E. Walker, the vicar general of the diocese, in a news release issued Thursday afternoon.

"I know that many are concerned about the bishop's condition," Walker said. "Bishop is making progress. Every day he seems to be improving even over this short time span."

As the vicar general a second-in-command position under church Canon Law Walker has temporarily assumed the administration of the diocese. "Bishop readily recognizes his visitors and is very aware of his surroundings," said Walker, who is the pastor at St. Mary's parish in Bloomfield. "Severe injuries to his face are causing the bishop difficulty with speech; a symptom that should subside as he continues to progress."

In another statement posted on the diocese's Web site, Walker said "it may be some time before Bishop Pelotte is able to resume his duties in full ... "

"The religious sisters in the diocese were asked to offer prayers and to fast today for the bishop," Walker said in the news release. "He's got a lot of people supporting him in prayer."

In the Web site message, which is to be made available in all Masses during the upcoming weekend, Walker asks parishioners to remember the bishop and his family in prayer. Pelotte's twin brother, Dana, also a Catholic priest, and other family members have traveled to Phoenix to be with him.

In fact, area Catholics were invited to pray for Pelotte at a special prayer service on Thursday evening at Casa Reina, a 24-hour prayer chapel on Gallup's north side. According to Mother Magda Garcia of the Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph, the Rosary is also being prayed on behalf of Pelotte at Casa Reina at the beginning of every hour, on the hour, for an indefinite period of time.

In addition to the sudden shock of coping with Pelotte's injuries, chancery officials have been left scrambling to cover upcoming appointments on the bishop's schedule. Pelotte was scheduled to participate in the annual Region 13 Diaconate Conference in Gallup this week; he was slated to host the Aug. 3 Bishop's Golf Classic, a Catholic Peoples Foundation fundraiser in Farmington; and he was also supposed to ordain a deacon on Aug. 11.

Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.