SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
National Catholic Reporter

Dan Morris-Young | May. 22, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO “The religious fabric of the San Francisco archdiocese has been torn, and it did not need to happen. Intentionally or not, it has been wrenched,” said Thomas Sheehan, a Stanford University scholar who summarized what several observers shared with NCR.

Conflict has marked the tenure of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone since his arrival in San Francisco in 2012. In recent months, highly publicized events have made the archdiocese and Cordileone a staple of media coverage, and local Catholics have made their feelings known, from critics calling for Cordileone’s removal in a full-page ad in a major daily, to supporters rallying for the archbishop with a picnic, petitions and a website.

The Bay Area has become an epicenter for colliding visions of what being Catholic means, the role of conscience, church teaching on sex and sexuality, the…