UNITED STATES
Vatican Insider
Now that everyone is vying to win over Catholic voters, the consequences faced by the newly appointed archbishop of San Francisco for his recent involvement in a drink driving incident, may not be so severe
Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City
It is still too early to tell whether the new archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone’s run in with the police last Friday night will have any consequences for his upcoming mission and what these may be. The archbishop was stopped near the San Diego campus and found to have a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit in California.
The prelate – a representative of the American Episcopal conference’s new conservative guard who was promoted to the position of Archbishop of San Francisco last 27 July after just three years as leader of the Diocese of Oakland and a standard-bearer in the battle against same-sex marriage – was apparently accompanying his 80 year old mother home after a meal at a friend’s house.
Cordileone apologised and said he felt “shame for the disgrace” he brought upon the church and himself, adding that he wanted to repay his “debt to society.” He is due to start his work in the new diocese on 4 October. Five days later, the archbishop who spent nine hours in a county prison cell and was released on bail, will be required to appear in court.
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