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New S.F. Archbishop Arrested on DUI Charge

New S.F. Archbishop Arrested on DUI Charge

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Salvatore Cordileone, an outspoken opponent of marriage equality, was arrested in San Diego early Saturday.

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The newly appointed Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, an outspoken opponent of marriage equality, has been arrested on a drunk driving charge.

Bishop Salvatore Cordileone was arrested at a DUI checkpoint early Saturday morning near the state university campus in San Diego after having dinner with friends, the San Francisco Chroniclereports. He was released from jail about noon after posting $2,500 in bail and is scheduled to appear in court on the charge October 9, five days after he is due to be installed as head of the San Francisco archdiocese.

Cordileone was a leader in the effort to pass Proposition 8, which amended California's constitution in 2008 to nullify a marriage equality ruling by the state Supreme Court. He has held various church posts in California during his career and has been bishop of Oakland since 2009. He also served for a time in a church court in Rome.

When he was named to replace retiring San Francisco archbishop George Niederauer, who also was active in the Prop. 8 campaign, Cordileone expressed frustration at the attention given to his own work in opposition to marriage equality. "I wish I didn't have to expend so much time and energy on something that should be so self-evident," he told the Chronicle. "But this is a high-profile issue. ... For whatever God's reason, it's the issue he's given us at this point in history, so I'm not going to run from it."

He issued a written statement Monday addressing the DUI charge. "I apologize for my error in judgment and feel shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself," he wrote. "I will repay my debt to society and I ask forgiveness from my family and my friends and co-workers at the Diocese of Oakland and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. ... I pray that God, in His inscrutable wisdom, will bring some good out of this."

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.