CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES
www.catholic-sf.org
AUGUST 2, 2012
SPECIAL EDITION | VOL. 14 NO. 23
OUR NEXT ARCHBISHOP
Most Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop-designate of San Francisco
AT A GLANCE: ARCHBISHOP-DESIGNATE SALVATORE CORDILEONE His father, a fisherman of Sicilian descent, was born and baptized in San Francisco. Friends call him “prayerful,” “holy,” organized and detail-oriented. San Diego auxiliary bishop for seven years, Oakland bishop since 2009 Has doctorate in canon law
Served Vatican’s highest court in Rome from 1995-2002 Chairman of U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage Fluent in Spanish, has worked with immigrants in Calexico, San Diego, Oakland “A consistent ethic of life” is key teaching theme
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Pope names Oakland Bishop Cordileone as San Francisco’s 9th archbishop Installation Mass to be held Oct. 4 on feast of St. Francis GEORGE RAINE CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
Pope Benedict XVI on July 27 appointed Salvatore J. Cordileone, presently serving as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland, as the ninth archbishop of San Francisco. The 56-year-old archbishop-designate, ordained a priest 30 years ago on July 9, 1982, was appointed bishop of Oakland on March 23, 2009, and was installed on May 6, 2009, in Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland. His installation in San Francisco will be Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron and namesake of the archdiocese and the city, at St. Mary’s Cathedral. He succeeds Archbishop George Niederauer, who on his 75 birthday in 2011 dutifully submitted his request for resignation to the pope after serving here since his appointment on Dec. 15, 2005. “On behalf of the bishops, priests, deacons, women and men religious and one-half million lay people of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco I am pleased to welcome Archbishopdesignate Cordileone and to assure him of our prayers, our loyalty, support and cooperation, as well as our friendship and affection,” said Archbishop Niederauer. Archbishop-designate Cordileone, who is fluent in Spanish, made remarks in English and Spanish at a news conference at the cathedral just hours after his appointment was announced by the Vatican. He said he regrets that his time in Oakland was so brief, but said he looks forward to “assuming my new pastoral responsibilities with and for the priests and people of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.” He added, “The church of San Francisco has a tremendous legacy of Catholic ministries and
participation in the local community for serving the common good. While assuming the pastoral care of a local church as its bishop is always a daunting challenge, I am encouraged by the history we have to build upon and take confidence that, with much prayer and hard work, and with the grace of God, we will, together, be able to further the new evangelization in this comer of the world we call home.” Archbishop-designate Cordileone served as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Diego from 2002 until his 2009 appointment as bishop of Oakland. While there, he was an active advocate of Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, approved by voters in 2008. At the news conference July 27 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, he said, “Marriage is the union between a man and a woman because children can only come about through the embrace of a man and a woman coming together,” and he added, “I don’t see how that is discriminatory against anyone.” The archbishop-designate then added, “Our stand for marriage is not against anyone but it is because we believe this is foundational to preserve our society.” On the national level, Archbishop-designate Cordileone is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage and a member of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. Archbishop-designate Cordileone, with the U.S. Catholic bishops, has long advocated for a comprehensive immigration reform, and he endorsed President Barack Obama’s executive order in June effectively making undocumented young people immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30.
This puts in place the essence of the DREAM Act, long-stalled legislation in Congress, but is short of what the archbishop-designate said he wants: the legislation passed and signed. “The DREAM Act corresponds very closely with the elements of a just immigration reform that the U.S. bishops have been advocating for many years,” said Archbishop-designate Cordileone, in response to a question at-the news conference. ‘’I would hope that this would be a kick start to move Congress to pass the legislation because an executive order is too unstable a basis to establish a just, comprehensive immigration reform. So, I do hope this will move the Congress legislatively.” He said, too, that he considers the cultural diversity of the archdiocese – just as in Oakland and his home town San Diego – to be both a strength and a challenge. “The devotional life of so many immigrant groups to this part of the country, I think, is a great source of enrichment for the life of the local church, but there is also a challenge to bring people together to get to build that new evangelization that the seeds of the Gospel might be planted and flourish here,” the archbishopdesignate said. He added, “There are cultural factors, too, that we need to have to confirm in furthering the values of the Gospel, which we know are values which work for the common good.”
The archbishopdesignate considers the cutural diversity of the archdiocese to be both a strength and a challenge.
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Reporters question Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone at a July 27 news conference at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The archbishop-designate has served as bishop of Oakland since 2009.
‘To him it is all about being at the service of the people of God Friends, family describe 56-year-old archbishop-designate as prayerful, exacting, compassionate
VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
“The church of San Francisco has a tremendous legacy,” Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone said in his statement on his selection by the pope to lead the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Archbishop George Niederauer is pictured in the background.
The archbishop-designate for the Archdiocese of San Francisco is the son of a commercial fisherman, attended public school because his family could not afford to pay Catholic school tuition, and decided to enter the seminary during his first year of college. The third of four children, Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone -- known as Sam to his family -- enjoys a good cigar, swims regularly for exercise, and is color blind. Friends and family portray him as a perfectionist, detail-oriented, organized, and above all, a man of strong faith and conviction. He was described by several of those who have known the newly appointed ordinary for decades as “prayerful” and “a holy man.” Archbishop-designate Cordileone‘s mother recalled that her son had a high school sweetheart when he told her he was planning to enter the seminary. Her reaction was “What is she going to say?” adding that her other reaction was that the priesthood is “a lonely life.” The young woman later married a former seminarian and “they’ve got five kids.” “He was always a strong student,” a former classmate recalled, and Mary Cordileone noted that the archbishop-designate, now 56, delivered his canon law thesis in Latin. At one point, Archbishop-designate Cordileone was the drum major in the high school
marching band, which, Mrs. Cordileone said, “makes him fond of saying that it prepared him for the tall hat and the stick,” the formal garb of a bishop. “I feel very blessed,” said Mrs. Cordileone, who will be attending the Oct. 4 installation with his godmother and aunt, Angie LaRosa. His father died seven years ago. Father Jim Poulsen was one of the first people with whom the archbishop-designate discussed his vocation to the priesthood. Friends to this day, Father Poulsen said of the grandson of Sicilian immigrants, “He’s a very prayerful man. He has great reverence for the sacraments and for the liturgy. He’s a very honorable and ethical human being and a good model Christian.” “He’s very strong in his convictions and I don’t think he’ll be reluctant at all to speak out on something he thinks is important and right,” said Father Poulsen, who is pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in La Mesa, in the Diocese of San Diego, in an interview the day the appointment was announced. His strong support for marriage between one man and one woman means “it’s going to be difficult for him up there. In fact, the (San Francisco) Chronicle, this morning, their lead paragraph was all about gay marriage. He’s about many more things than that. He’s very faithful to the teachings of the church and has no hesitation about defending those.” During the seven years Archbishop-designate Cord-
ileone was auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of San Diego he worked closely with the social justice ministry, said Kent Peters, director of social ministry. He supported the community organizing efforts of the San Diego Organizing Project, an ecumenical grassroots social action group. “He attended many of their events and was very supportive of their work,” said Peters. Then-Bishop Cordileone was active on immigration issues, supported pro-life issues including opposing abortion and the death penalty, and was an advocate for marriage. In fact, Peters said, “If it hadn’t been for him, Proposition 8 wouldn’t have happened” because the bishop was one of the initiators of the effort by helping raise awareness of the issue and support for signature gathering to get the measure on the ballot. “Cordileone means lionhearted,” said progressive Rabbi Laurie Coskey, who worked with the archbishop-designate in San Diego. “I always said to bishop that he had the heart of the lion because he really had a heart for the poor and really had a heart for the working poor,” said Rabbi Coskey, the executive director of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County. She worked with him on a living wage ordinance and on Justice for Janitors among other political projects, and admired his “lively mind.” “We agreed to work around sustainable economics SEE ARCHBISHOP-DESIGNATE, PAGE 4
(CNS PHOTO/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO)
Pope Benedict XVI greets Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone during an April 21, 2012, meeting with Western U.S. bishops.
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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | AUGUST 2, 2012
‘A hard-working, prayerful, faith-filled shepherd’ Here is the text of Archbishop George Niederauer’s introduction of Archbishopdesignate Salvatore Cordileone July 27 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. I am happy to announce that Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed as the ninth Archbishop of San Francisco the Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, presently serving as bishop of Oakland. On behalf of the bishops, priests, deacons, women and men religious, and half-million lay people of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco I am pleased to welcome Archbishop-designate Cordileone and to assure him of our prayers, our loyalty, support and cooperation, as well as our friendship and affection. Archbishop-designate Cordileone will be installed as archbishop in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption on Thursday, Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, who is the beloved heavenly patron and namesake of this archdiocese and of the city and county of San Francisco. Our new chief shepherd was born in San Diego, June 5, 1956. He graduated from Crawford High School in 1974, and from the University of San Diego in 1978, with a degree in philosophy. Archbishop-designate Cordileone studied for the priesthood at the North American College and Gregorian University in Rome, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Diego by Bishop Leo
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Archbishop George Niederauer and Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone – the eighth and ninth archbishops of San Francisco – are pictured July 27 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. T. Maher on July 9, 1982, 30 years ago this month. Our new archbishop served as associate pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish in La Mesa for three years. He earned a doctorate in canon law at the Gregorian University in Rome, and then returned to San Diego to serve as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Calexico, on the border between California and Mexico. He speaks fluent Spanish and worked very closely with the His-
panic community there, and helped immigrants and union workers in dealing with issues they faced. While serving as pastor he also served on the diocesan tribunal in San Diego. In 1995 Archbishop-designate Cordileone went to Rome to serve for seven years as an assistant at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial body in the Vatican. On July 5, 2002, the late Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of San Diego, and
he was ordained a bishop by Bishop Robert Brom on Aug. 21, 2002. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Cordileone as bishop of Oakland on March 23, 2009, and he was installed on May 6, 2009, in Christ the Light Cathedral. His service as bishop of Oakland has given him a deep understanding of the radically diverse cultural composition of the Bay Area and a dedication to multi-cultural ministry. His studies and work in Rome gave him a global perspective on the church throughout the world. Archbishop-designate Cordileone has many ties to the Church in San Francisco; indeed, his father was born here, and was baptized in Sts. Peter and Paul Church. This morning at Mass the first reading included these words that the Lord spoke to His people through the prophet Jeremiah: “I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently” (Jeremiah 3: 15). In recent years, as we have served as brother bishops in the Bay Area and the Province of San Francisco, I have come to know our new Archbishop as an energetic, hard-working, prayerful and faith-filled shepherd to his people. I am proud and privileged to introduce His Excellency, the Most Reverend Salvatore Cordileone, the Archbishop-designate of San Francisco.
Archbishop-designate: Furthering the new evangelization This is Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone’s statement on his appointment July 27 as ninth archbishop of San Francisco. I am humbled by the confidence that Pope Benedict XVI has placed in me by entrusting to me the pastoral care of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. As the old saying goes, “God writes straight with crooked lines,” and I trust that, even with my limitations and shortcomings, God’s will is being accomplished in the midst of this unexpected call in my service to the church. I am and will always remain grate-
ful to the priests and people of the Diocese of Oakland who welcomed me with such gracious hospitality immediately upon my arrival in the Diocese. I regret that my time among them as the pastor of that local Church was so brief. The East Bay is a place rich in diversity and cultural and spiritual vibrancy, and I was so looking forward to continuing to build on these resources with so many of my valued collaborators by tapping into the creative energy that has always characterized the Diocese of Oakland. To all of the wonderful
priests and priestly people of the Oakland diocese, please know that I love you and will continue to hold you in prayer and remain grateful for all you have taught me about what it takes to be a leader in the church today. At the same time, I look forward to assuming my new pastoral responsibilities with and for the priests and people of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. I wish to thank Archbishop Niederauer in particular for the support he has always shown me from the day of the announcement of my appointment to Oakland, and especially
now in my transition as his successor. The church of San Francisco has a tremendous legacy of Catholic ministries and participation in the local community for serving the common good. While assuming the pastoral care of a local church as its bishop is always a daunting challenge, I am encouraged by the history we have to build upon and take confidence that, with much prayer and hard work, and with the grace of God, we will, together, be able to further the new evangelization in this corner of the world we call home.
ARCHBISHOP-DESIGNATE: Prayerful, exacting & compassionate FROM PAGE 2
while at the same time we were working against each other on other social issues,” said Rabbi Coskey. “I am a progressive Jew; sometimes we worked against each other. He was thoughtful in being able to work in coalition even with people who see the world and what is best for the world differently, with Muslims, evangelicals, Unitarians, progressive Christians, progressive Jews.” “I admire him quite a bit. You’re lucky to have him,” said Rabbi Coskey. Father Efrain Bautista was an altar boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, five blocks from the Mexican border, in Calexico, where then-Father Cordileone was pastor from 1991 to 1995. “I think he is an awesome priest. He is one of the reasons I am a priest, because of the example of his prayer life and his dedication to the church,” said
Father Bautista, who was ordained two years ago and is now administrator of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Vista. Father Bautista said he struggled to complete a senior project that was necessary for high school graduation, and not only did Father Cordileone help him with it, he made time to come and hear Efrain’s presentation. “To him it is all about being at the service of the people of God,” said Father Bautista. “And I think that one of the things I admire most about him is his tirelessness and willingness to be at the service of God and his church.” “He’s very much a family man, very devout, very loving, very compassionate. And very open. I know people don’t always see this side of him— even to people who disagree with him, he is very respectful of those who disagree with him,” said Father Bautista, calling Archbishop-designate Cordileone, “a true gentleman.”
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone greets archdiocesan chancery staff July 27.