Please Pray for this Byzantine Catholic Priest & His Family
(For those who are surprized to read that a Catholic priest has a family, you shouldn't be. While the Latin Church has had the traditional discipline of a celebate priesthood, the Eastern Catholic Churches haven't. The only rule is that he must be married before being ordained to the deaconate. & like the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Bishops are not married.)
US doctors say that it is too dangerous to try to separate the conjoined twin daughters of Romanian Byzantine Catholic priest, Fr Alin Dogaru.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the twin girls born joined at the head have overcome long odds, but the doctor who brought them to the United States to be evaluated for surgery now says there is no longer any chance they will ever lead separate lives.
Anastasia and Tatiana Dogaru, who will be five in January, were born in Rome to Romanian parents. The top of Tatiana's head is attached to the back of Anastasia's, meaning the girls have never been able to look each other in the eye.
Tatiana has had to undergo heart surgery. Anastasia has no kidney function and relies on Tatiana's kidneys.
However, the twins have become smart, active girls, said Dr Kenneth Salyer, chairman and founder of the Dallas based non-profit World Craniofacial Foundation. Still, their long term prognosis is uncertain.
"They're troupers and they may be with us a long time, God willing," Salyer said.
Physicians at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio had hoped to separate the girls, but that surgery was deemed too dangerous and was called off in August 2007.
Still, Salyer, whose foundation brought the girls to Dallas when they were babies, had kept up hope that separation might still be possible.
But Salyer said he told the girls' parents a couple of months ago that separation would be impossible.
The family now lives in the Chicago area, where Alin Dogaru, a Byzantine Rite Catholic priest, has accepted an assignment at a parish. The parents declined to comment.
While they are doing well now, the girls' future is uncertain because of their complicated connection.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the twin girls born joined at the head have overcome long odds, but the doctor who brought them to the United States to be evaluated for surgery now says there is no longer any chance they will ever lead separate lives.
Anastasia and Tatiana Dogaru, who will be five in January, were born in Rome to Romanian parents. The top of Tatiana's head is attached to the back of Anastasia's, meaning the girls have never been able to look each other in the eye.
Tatiana has had to undergo heart surgery. Anastasia has no kidney function and relies on Tatiana's kidneys.
However, the twins have become smart, active girls, said Dr Kenneth Salyer, chairman and founder of the Dallas based non-profit World Craniofacial Foundation. Still, their long term prognosis is uncertain.
"They're troupers and they may be with us a long time, God willing," Salyer said.
Physicians at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio had hoped to separate the girls, but that surgery was deemed too dangerous and was called off in August 2007.
Still, Salyer, whose foundation brought the girls to Dallas when they were babies, had kept up hope that separation might still be possible.
But Salyer said he told the girls' parents a couple of months ago that separation would be impossible.
The family now lives in the Chicago area, where Alin Dogaru, a Byzantine Rite Catholic priest, has accepted an assignment at a parish. The parents declined to comment.
While they are doing well now, the girls' future is uncertain because of their complicated connection.
posted by Al @ 5:55 AM
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