Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone and his predecessor, retired Cardinal William Levada, have a new conversation topic in addition to "being Archbishop of SF is so hard, what with all the pesky gays, trans people, etc." Now they can discuss what it's like to be arrested for a DUI, as Levada recently joined Cordileone in the rogue's gallery of SF clergymen convicted for drunk driving.

It was back in 2012 that then Archbishop-elect Cordileone was pulled over in San Diego as he drove his mom and a priest pal home, though police said that the time that he was "obviously impaired."

According to police, his blood alcohol level was 0.11, in excess of California's legal limit of 0.08. Cordileone ended up pleading guilty to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to "three years’ probation and ordered to pay a fine. He also will have to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim-impact panel and a three-month first conviction program through the state Department of Motor Vehicles," the San Diego Union Tribune reported at the time.

It appears that Levada, who was SF's Archbishop from 1995-2005 before being promoted to Cardinal, didn't learn from his colleague's mistakes, as the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported last week that he, too, had been busted for drunk driving while in their state while on a clergymen's holiday.

According to the Tribune-Herald, the bust took place during an August 19, 2015, traffic stop. "Levada was driving a 2015 Nissan Altima and was alone in the car," they report, "when he was pulled over after a patrol officer saw him swerve while driving northbound on Queen Kaahumanu Highway north of Kealakehe Parkway."

The 79-year-old Levada had a blood-alcohol level of 0.168 at the time of the stop, which is more than double Hawaii's legal limit, the Associated Press reported Friday. He was arrested, charged, and released after he posted $500 bail at the time of the arrest, according to the Catholic News Agency.

In court proceedings on January 25, Levada pleaded no contest to the charges, but "wasn’t required to appear at the hearing and was not present." He was fined $300, ordered to pay $162 in additional fees, and "was ordered to undergo substance abuse assessment and to follow any recommended treatment."

His driver's license was also revoked for one year.

Levada, who was was the highest ranking American Cardinal under Pope Benedict XVI before his retirement in 2012, lives in Menlo Park at the lovely St. Patrick's Seminary. According to a spokesperson with the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Levada was "vacationing with other priests" in Hawaii at the time of the arrest.

In a statement released by the Archdiocese of SF, Levada said that “I regret my error in judgment. I intend to continue fully cooperating with the authorities."

Previously: SF Archbishop Very Sorry For Driving Drunk With Mom in Car
S.F. Cardinal William Levada Speaks Out About Vatican Conclave

Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California, which is part of the SF-based, mostly Catholic Dignity Health network, has come under fire from the ACLU of Northern California after refusing to perform tubal ligations (also known as tying one's tubes) on two women who asked for them. The procedure, deemed one of the safest and most effective procedures for a woman to undergo immediately following her last intended childbirth, is considered a medically necessary procedure by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Mercy Hospital considers it "sterilization," which along with abortion and contraception are things that it does not provide on religious and ethical grounds, as a Catholic hospital.

As the Chronicle reports, the hospital relented in the face of possible legal action earlier this year in the case of Rachel Miller, who was set to give birth in September and whose doctor had recommended tubal ligation. Citing that there was not another childbirth facility with 70 miles, Miller and the ACLU argued for the necessity of the procedure, and the hospital finally reversed itself saying they had "new information" from Miller's doctor that would allow them to perform the surgery.

The only exception, they say, is for "the cure or alleviation of a present and serious pathology," which ACLU attorney Elizabeth Gill says is too vague.

Under California law, it is permissible for private hospitals that receive public funds to refuse to perform abortions, but it does not allow them to refuse other reproductive care, including sterilization.

ACLU attorneys for two more women who have been denied the procedure — one of whom suffered severe pre-eclampsia after she last gave birth by emergency C-section 18 months ago, and who wants her tubes tied following her next birth, due in March — along with the firm Covington & Burling and Physicians for Reproductive Health, issued a letter to the hospital on December 2 stating, "California law ... does not permit hospitals open to the general public and supported by public funds to deny patients medically indicated pregnancy-related care."

Says Gill, "There is a clear conflict between the best interests of patients and the directives of the Catholic hospital system. Religious institutions that provide services to the general public should not be allowed to hold religion as an excuse to discriminate or deny important health care."

Unless the hospital responds and reverses itself again in the case of these two women, a lawsuit will be filed soon.

Catholic archbishop and occasional drunk driver Salvatore Cordileone has written an open letter in response to the open letter sent to him last week by Mayor Lee, Gavin Newsom and dozens of others encouraging him not to attend a June 19 rally in Washington organized by hate group National Organization For Marriage. Despite being deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and despite their work to turn back the clock on transgender rights and their documented strategy to use gay marriage as a wedge issue to divide LGBT people and African Americans, Cordileone smarmily insists that the group is just a bunch of good people like him who believe that marriage should only exist for heterosexual couples possessing exactly one penis and one vagina, no more, no less.

He would also like us all to understand that this fight over gay marriage really isn't a losing one, and it's one the Pope still supports, and really it's more often people like him, and supporters of traditional marriage, who are the victims of "offensive rhetoric," "physical violence," and retribution from the left these days when they decide to express their views. They're the victims now, you see.

Also, he employs NOM's clever rhetorical tactic of insisting they don't hate anyone, and they're not anti-anything. They're just pro-straight people. And straight people marriage. And heterosexuality. In fact, NOM likely coached him on these talking points — you can read all their talking points right here.

Here's an excerpt from Cordileone:

1. The March for Marriage is not “anti-LGBT” (as some have described it); it is not anti-anyone or anti-anything. Rather, it is a pro-marriage March. The latter does not imply the former. Rather, it affirms the great good of bringing the two halves of humanity together so that a man and a woman may bond with each other and with any children who come from their union. ... Rest assured that if the point of this event were to single out a group of individuals and target them for hatred, I most certainly would not be there.

2. While I cannot go into all of the details here of your allegations against the sponsors of this event and scheduled speakers, I do know that at least some of what you say is based on misinterpretation or is simply factually incorrect...

3. It gives me assurance that we share a common disdain for harsh and hateful rhetoric. It must be pointed out, though, that there is plenty of offensive rhetoric which flows in the opposite direction. In fact, for those who support the conjugal understanding of marriage, the attacks have not stopped at rhetoric. Simply for taking a stand for marriage as it has been understood in every human society for millennia, people have lost their jobs, lost their livelihoods, and have suffered other types of retribution, including physical violence. It is true that historically in our society violence has been perpetrated against persons who experience attraction to members of the same sex, and this is to be deplored and eradicated. Sadly, though, we are now beginning to see examples, although thankfully not widespread, of even physical violence against those who hold to the conjugal view of marriage (such as, most notably, the attempted gunning down of those who work in the offices of the Family Research Council).

Read it all here.

Have fun in D.C. being pro-marriage with all those totally non-hateful people, Sal!

Enjoy listening to all that love-filled rhetoric about how gay marriage and gay sex are an abomination, too.

[SF Archdiocese]

Previously: Mayor Lee and Lt. Gov. Newsom blast Archbishop for event promoting ‘hatred’ to gays [SFGate]

Newly installed Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, would really like everyone to know how disappointed he is in America. The new gay marriage laws passed Tuesday in three states, and the rejection of Minnesota's constitutional definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, signal to him a greater need to defend heterosexual marriage from these attacks by "those who promote the redefinition of marriage."

He issued a statement today. Read it and try to understand how this guy is going to keep living here:

November 6 was a disappointing day for marriage, as the effort to preserve the unique meaning of marriage in the law lost by only a narrow margin in four states, even though vastly outspent by those who promote the redefinition of marriage.

The meaning of marriage, though, cannot be redefined because it lies within our very nature. No matter what policy, law or judicial decision is put into place, marriage is the only institution that unites a man and a woman to each other and to any children born of their union. It is either this, or it is nothing at all. In view of the fact that every child has a mother and a father, our society either respects the basic right of every child to be raised by his or her mother and father together and so supports the true and unique meaning of marriage for the good of children, or it does not.

In a society marked by increasing poverty and family fragmentation, marriage needs to be strengthened, promoted, and defended, not redefined. I hope and pray that political leaders, judges, and all people will seek to honor this foundational and common sense truth of marriage.

What's that about common sense truth? Maybe we should be talking about the common sense truth about drinking and driving. Go eat some Chick Fil-A and shut up, Cordileone.

[CatholicCulture]

A soon-to-be appointed San Francisco Archbishop risked the lives of others when he decided to take to the road while blotto. Dreamy-eyed Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone was arrested on Saturday at 12:26 a.m. after being stopped by police. He was booked on a misdemeanor charge and posted bail.

Cordileone, as CBS 5 reports, was a vocal supporter of the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. In addition to anti-civil rights initiatives, Cordileone, 56, is also an illogical outspoken opponent of both abortion and birth control. However, he's also all about breaking down stereotypes too. "I've always believed that when people get to know each other, that breaks down stereotypes, prejudices, prejudgments, when people get to know each other on a human level," he explained to KCBS.

He was set to be initiated as Archbishop on Oct. 4, the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi. Cordileone was ordained as a bishop in 2002, after the late Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of San Diego.

No word yet on how he will atone for driving under the influence.

We should also point out that some have associated the Most Holy Redeemer brouhaha— i.e., the Castro Catholic church at the center of the the drag queen controversy—with Cordileone coming to San Francisco. However, the Archdiocese claims the boozy anti-gay man of God has had nothing to do with it since he has yet to take office.

Last week we mentioned the kerfuffle surrounding Most Holy Redeemer in the Castro, the gay-friendly Catholic church that has struggled over the years with tensions between its gay parishioners, neighborhood LGBT organizations that use the church space for functions, and conservative Catholics who don't much care for gays and drag queens. The most recent skirmish involves the banning of drag queens on the premises, which new pastor Brian Costello said came down from the archdiocese — and others have said that the ban is coming from the Pope himself, via new archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who takes office in October. But the archdiocese is now denying that they had anything to do with it, and that the decision was "completely up to the parish."

Costello and Most Holy Redeemer's business manager Michael Poma are also doing an about-face regarding the all-out ban, having faced heat from all sides and garnering a bunch of unwanted press attention in the last week. Poma now says, "Father Brian wasn’t educated about the importance of drag queens in the gay community. Once it was explained to him, he said they were welcome to attend as long as their behavior was church-appropriate." He says that the idea that they would make such a decision, to ban drag queens, was "obnoxious and ridiculous."

It still doesn't sound like the Castro Country Club, which said they'd be relocating their fall fundraiser in response to the ban, will be returning with Heklina for any events. The church is playing off the ban now as a decision regarding all one-time, non-church events. They're putting an end to all weddings, fundraisers, and events by outside groups, because there have been issues with non-church-appropriate behavior — including a gay softball league event that involved male strippers.

The archdiocese also was careful to say that new archbishop Cordileone didn't even know about this conflict until the last few days, and that he has no power to make such decisions until he takes office October 4.

This conflict sounds far from over, however, so stay tuned.

[Examiner]

Previously: Castro Catholic Church Bans Drag Queens Once and For All
Gay-Friendly Castro Church Forced To Disinvite Gay-Friendly Clergy From Pre-Christmas Services

Well, shucks. Under pressure from the archdiocese, the new pastor at gay-friendly but nevertheless Catholic Most Holy Redeemer Church in the Castro has banned all forms of drag on the premises. The church already had a ban, dating back to 2006, on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who used to host their bingo nights there until it caught some flack from conservative Catholics and parishioners. But now, as the BAR reports, pastor Rev. Brian Costello has stated that there will be no drag queens on the premises, even in non-nun drag, which has prompted the Castro Country Club, a substance-abuse-recovery organization, to cancel their drag-hosted fall fundraiser at the church.

Costello replaces former pastor, Rev. Steve Meriwether, and he says he was told in no uncertain terms by the archdiocese 'No drag queens' on church property.

Meriwether had a history of being more liberal about the drag thing, and the church got into some hot water and grabbed national headlines in 2007 when former Archbishop George Niederauer gave communion during Sunday mass to two members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The incident enraged conservative Catholics.

Then, just this past December, three gay-friendly clergy who were invited to speak during a series of pre-Christmas evening services had to be disinvited at the insistence of the archdiocese, after a conservative Catholic newspaper from San Diego called them to task.

[BAR]

Like the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa enjoyed dancing on the dark side via the occasional bout of fame-mongering. But who wouldn't fall prey to the siren song of celebrity and fortune? Unlike the Dali Lama, however, Mother Teresa (née Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhi) defended pedophilic priests. In fact, the Nobel Prize-winning nun — now on the fast track to sainthood from the Vatican — defended a Bay Area priest accused and convicted of sexual molestation back in the 1993. An act that, in addition to reinstating the criminal man of God, resulted in more horrifying sexual abuse.

In a page-turning cover story this week in SF Weekly, Peter Jamison reports:

... [D]ocuments obtained by SF Weekly suggest that Mother Teresa knew one of her favorite priests was removed from ministry for sexually abusing a Bay Area boy in 1993, and that she nevertheless urged his bosses to return him to work as soon as possible. The priest resumed active ministry, as well as his predatory habits. Eight additional complaints were lodged against him in the coming years by various families, leading to his eventual arrest on sex-abuse charges in 2005.

The priest was Donald McGuire, a former Jesuit who has been convicted of molesting boys in federal and state courts and is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence. McGuire, now 81 years old, taught at the University of San Francisco in the late 1970s, and held frequent spiritual retreats for families in San Francisco and Walnut Creek throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He also ministered extensively to the Missionaries of Charity during that time.

Did Teresa know about the sex abuse allegations before championing McGuire's reinstatement? Alas, yes. The woman known the world over as the go-to comparison for acts of benevolence knew all about his "sad" acts. She even went as far as admitting that a cover up was imperative in order to protect the lucrative priesthood industry. Jamison goes on to explain:

In a 1994 letter to McGuire's Jesuit superior in Chicago, it appears that Mother Teresa acknowledged she had learned of the "sad events which took [McGuire] from his priestly ministry these past seven months," and that McGuire "admitted imprudence in his behavior," but she wished to see him put back on the job. The letter was written after McGuire had been sent to a psychiatric hospital following an abuse complaint to the Jesuits by a family in Walnut Creek.

"I understand how grave is the scandal touching the priesthood in the U.S.A. and how careful we must be to guard the purity and reputation of that priesthood," the letter states. "I must say, however, that I have confidence and trust in Fr. McGuire and wish to see his vital ministry resume as soon as possible."

Among some of McGuire's sexual abuse admissions? Showering with a teenage boy from Walnut Creek, "soliciting body massages" from the kid and allowing him to "read pornography in the room they shared on trips together."

According to a jarring April 2011 article by The Bay Citizen on Catholic child abuse in San Francisco, McGuire, now 80 and in federal prison, worked as a teacher and priest at USF from 1976 to 1981 "before being fired for highly questionable acts." He was also the head father at St. Ignatius Church.

Mother Teresa, who died in 2000, is best known for her work in Calcutta where (with limited success) she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, "while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries." The now-dead nun could also face losing any chances at sainthood provided the Catholic Church comes to its senses regarding the ingrained and, yes, unforgivable practice of protecting child-molesting priests.

Read the Jamison's article in its entirety at SF Weekly.

The gay-friendly but nevertheless Catholic Most Holy Redeemer Church on Diamond Street in the Castro, which has a heavily gay and lesbian congregation, was recently asked by the city's Catholic archdiocese to rescind invitations to three gay-friendly clergy who had been invited by the pastor to perform a series of pre-Christmas evening services. The reason? Christmas isn't a time of year when the Catholic church thinks anyone should be discussing gay themes, even if the whole room is full of gay people.

A spokesman for the archdiocese tells the Chron, "The archbishop felt the speakers were inappropriate for the season of Advent, which should be a time to reflect on the coming of Christ." But the archdiocese also admits they don't do much of this sort of micromanaging of parishes. They stepped in in this case because a conservative Catholic newspaper in San Diego caught wind of the speakers scheduled at Most Holy Redeemer and got their conservative feathers ruffled about what goes on up here in liberal San Francisco. They particularly got upset over one speaker, 85-year-old Otis Charles who retired as Episcopal Bishop of Utah in 1993, divorced his wife, and moved to San Francisco. He married his gay partner here in 2004.

The pastor at Most Holy Redeemer, Rev. Steve Meriwether, wasn't available for comment, but this isn't the first time he's caught flack from the church's higher-ups. In 2006 he was forced to go on leave after the archbishop insisted he stop allowing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from doing their monthly bingo nights at MHR.

Just to clarify, the Catholic Church's official position on gayness is kind of like the Mormons': hate the sin and not the sinner. Being gay is sort of okay, but gay sex is not. Don't try to make sense of it. Just be glad you're not Catholic (if you're not), and if you are, well, god bless.

[Chron]

As some of you know, Marc Leno's pushing a bill that wouldn't change any same-sex marriage laws, just clarify existing ones. See, Leno wants the state of California to recognize gay marriages taking place in other states. It didn't sound too controversial when we first heard about it, but sure enough, some people, like whimsical hate-group the California Catholic Daily, found a reason to object.

As expected, their reasoning is flimsy and ignores the Supreme Court's affirmation of existing marriages. (Remember, this group, like the former Miss California, isn't just opposed to gay marriage, they're opposed to gay PEOPLE. And, bottom line, they'll take any opportunity to try hurting people who happen to be queer.)

In related news, a slew of pro-Prop 8 people just moved to Maine and they're trying to the same thing that they did in California. The group that wants to force "Maine's new gay marriage law with a referendum vote says it has gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot in November." This is scary. Obviously, people who force their beliefs based discrimination into state law need to be stopped. One way you can do this is by donating to this fund that will help save marriage in the state of Maine. Anything little amount, big or small, will do!

As always, check out Stop8.org for comprehensive information on same-sex marriage.

In a continuing tactic used against anyone who goes against the religious right's attempts to harm and degrade the queer community -- which involves intentionally abusing the term "beliefs" -- they recently used Godwin's Law to slam the SF Board of Supervisors for condemning the Vatican's policy on same-sex adoptions. (Because the Vatican has absolutely no history of questionable sympathy for the Third Reich.) Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center for Hate, used the term to describe the Board of Supes.

It is not a stretch to compare the San Francisco board's actions to that of the Nazi Germany policy of Gleichschaltung, vilifying Jews as an auxiliary to and laying the groundwork for more repressive policies, including the final solution of extermination.

Yeah. Nice try. But no.

Our favorite part of the article, however, was the image used to accompany to the story on SFGate. Through it has since been removed, Greg Dewar grabbed it for us so that we could share it with you. This image of Chinese American supes, at right, was a bizarre choice when posting an article blaring a headline about them being called Nazis. Communists? Sure, because that's funny. But Nazis? Well, that's downright strange.

Magic-believing crazy person Pope Benedict XVI announced today a brand spanking new Bishop. Salvatore Joseph Cordileone has officially been announced as America's Next Top Bishop of Oakland, "making him the principal voice of moral authority for some 400,000 Catholics in Alameda and Contra Costa counties." According to SF Chronicle, Cordileone, 52, was the auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of San Diego. Bishop Cordileone, we must admit, looks kind of sexy for someone at such an advanced age. We would not at all have minded him touching our bathing suit area while giving us "private communion classes" as a kid. Congratulations, Joe!

Also, Cordileone "inherits a diocese that has staked some $190 million on a new Cathedral in downtown Oakland." $190 million on what's basically a mystery house? $190 million?! Disgusting. At least throw in a few lofts, a Quizno's, or something; otherwise, see you in Hell.