CALIFORNIA
KTVU
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU and wires) – In an open letter to Pope Francis made public Thursday, a group of angry Bay Area Catholics have asked the pontiff to replace controversial San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
The signers, who include alumni of San Francisco Catholic schools, parents, educators, Church volunteers and former Board Members of Catholic Charities CYO, disagree and are upset with Cordileone’s stance on traditional Catholic ideals.
They note that “morality clauses” included by Cordileone in contracts and handbooks for teachers and staff members at four San Francisco Catholic schools have caused major division in the community.
“The absolute mean-spiritedness of his required language for the Archdiocesan high school faculty handbook sets a pastoral tone that is closer to persecution than evangelization,” the letter published in the San Francisco Chronicle read. “Students, families and teachers have been deeply wounded by this language, yet the Archbishop refuses to withdraw his demands.”
While she is not among the signees, Eileen Woods, a teacher at San Francisco’s St. Cecila’s, said she was happy to see the letter sent to the Vatican.
“I was thrilled to hear they took out an ad,” she told KTVU Fox 2. “I’m appalled at what the church has done. I don’t understand. The Pope is moving in a progressive direction and archdiocese is regressive.”
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