Cordileone was booked into San Diego County
jail two hours after being stopped and was released Saturday on a $2,500
bond, sheriff's records show. He was ordered to appear in court Oct. 9.
Cordileone, 56, is the current bishop of the Oakland Diocese, which issued an apologetic statement Monday afternoon.
"While
visiting in San Diego this past weekend, I had dinner at the home of
some friends along with a priest friend visiting from outside the
country and my mother, who lives near San Diego State University," the
statement read. "While driving my mother home, I passed through a DUI
checkpoint the police had set up near the SDSU campus before I reached
her home, and was found to be over the California legal blood alcohol
level.
"I apologize for my error in judgment and feel shame for
the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself. 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." (Perhaps God in His inscrutable wisdom is giving you an opportunity to meditate on humility. That's not such a bad thing given your past and where you are headed.)
The San Diego City
Attorney's Office, which prosecutes misdemeanor DUI offenses, said it
had not received a report on the arrest.
Cordileone is a San Diego
native and was ordained at the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego.
Police did not provide information about whether he had previously been
arrested.
In late July, Pope Benedict XVI selected Cordileone to become archbishop of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.
Cordileone
is not scheduled to be installed as archbishop of San Francisco until
Oct. 4. Catholic bishops are answerable only to the pope and a criminal
charge would not automatically prompt a delay in Cordileone's
installation, according to canon law experts.
Cordileone's
appointment to San Francisco archbishop provoked outcry from gay rights
advocates because he is a noted proponent of Proposition 8, the 2008 law
passed by California voters to outlaw same-sex marriage.
Cordileone
was already known as a theologically conservative bishop faithful to
the Catholic orthodoxy when he was installed as Oakland's bishop in May
2009, becoming the first Spanish-speaking bishop in the Oakland
Diocese's history. He was a staunch advocate for immigrant rights and
opposes the death penalty.
He was also part of the San Diego
Diocese when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007 after being
slammed with claims by 150 alleged victims of sexual abuse and multiple
civil trials. Cordileone denied allegations by creditors at the time
that the diocese tried to protect its finances by hiding and downplaying
the value of assets before bankruptcy proceedings began.
And he
has refused to provide a list of priests involved in sexual abuse
requested by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, according to
David Clohessy, director of the organization known as SNAP. Cordileone
also called on Catholics to vote for an initiative on the November
ballot that requires parental consent for minors seeking an abortion.
Because
it's a high-profile case, Cordileone's paperwork may take longer to
process if authorities are going out of their way to avoid mistakes, Bay
Area DUI defense attorney Bruce Kapsack said.
Breath tests return immediate results. Urine and blood samples can take much longer to process, Kapsack said.
Kapsack
said his clients have included priests, rabbis, imams and Buddhist
monks. "They don't get more of a break," Kapsack said. "Actually, the
higher profile the individual the stricter the situation becomes."
I found the whole alibi believable but how did his 88 year old mother get home after the cops dragged his butt to the drunk tank? The apology seemed to be all about CYA "me" and "my shiny new job" and very little about mom's endangerment in the car of a drunk driving too carelessly that even the cops could not let a "priest" slide on this one.
ReplyDeleteM.McShea
Mom drove herself home. I've read a few stories in the last day or so that say mom thought he was pretty bombed, and the police at the checkpoint say he was visibly drunk. For some reason I wanted to think he was just unlucky enough to get caught at a checkpoint after drinking a few glasses of wine. Apparently he had a lot of glasses of wine.
DeleteSometimes Mike, I find myself wanting these righteous Catholic crusaders to actually walk their talk. I should probably get over that.
Somehow, I don't think this will unduly delay Cordileone's coronation as Archbishop of San Francisco. He is not very humble, and is an organization man to the core.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who reside in the Diocese of Oakland are burning candles by the ton, hoping that he DOES go to San Francisco! Out, out, damned spot. Out, already!
DeleteBTW, he's not an Archbishop just yet --- not until October 4th, 5 days before he's supposed to present him (sans drag) before the judge in San Diego.
DeleteWanna bet there'll be a lawyer but not a dipsomaniac there?
Jimmy Mac, I do feel for you, and for SF if they get him.
DeleteThanks M. McShea. DUI kills, injures and maims. Recognition of that fact is not reflected in an "error of judgment" lame excuse. I hope the San Diego City Attorney makes him look at the accident photos of DUI victims and then make a statement after further reflection. (Not anonymous Betty Clermont)
ReplyDeleteAlcoholism is an insidious and progressive disease and I would hope that the court order him to go to AA meetings. Alcoholism leads to many errors in judgment and causes real heart aches and suffering for all in the family and in the Church, the Nation and its politics.
ReplyDeleteI get the idea that this priest, Cordileone, will have a designated driver assigned to him, paid for with Church money by his enablers, the Pope, etc. They are probably mostly concerned with the "shame" Cordileone brings to the Church, so they will work hard to enabling him with an attorney, a driver, whatever it takes to protect the "priesthood" from further embarrassment.
At such meetings he will meet real people who have had to deal honestly & struggle with a true weakness / illness. Even if he is not ordered to go, it might be helpful for him to go to some meetings, read the literature, get acquainted with a real examination of conscience.
Fran Schultz
Fran, the idea that the Archdiocese will wind up paying for a designated driver just really irritates me. Normal people have to beg a judge to keep their driving privileges just so they too can go to work. Sal should either have to beg a judge, or pay for his own driver.
DeleteThat idea is irritating, for exactly the reasons you state. Most people don't have such a luxury to entertain such a notion of paying a driver. Most people are worried about how they will pay the fines, let alone a driver.
DeleteI just want to add here that he's just plain nuts for drinking and driving.
Fran
I realize DUI does not necessary mean one is an alcoholic…but Robert Sipe in his book A Secret World says “Over 50 percent of the clergy who are treated for severe alcohol problems have some homosexual concerns”…so perhaps Archbishop-elect Salvatore Cordileone has some homosexual concerns he has not spoke about in public!
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand how any male could go through the hot bed of an all male seminary, with plenty of real gay men, and not have 'homosexual concerns'. I think all the alcoholism has a lot to do with loneliness. Cordileone was with his mother. How many of us at his age (57) really have alcoholic beverages with dinner with our 88 year old mothers unless someone far more interesting is at dinner.
DeleteHe has just become a charter member of the Katholic Karma Klub.
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling there will be more and more of our clerical betters who get to join the Katholic Karma Klub. We are in the Age of Almost Instant Karma.
DeleteI posted this comment over at Bilgrimage, but I resisted saying anything initially about this story because it was early on when I stumbled upon it. I also did not think I had anything good to say about his grace.
ReplyDeleteNow as I look back, one of the more thoughtful posts, by an anonymous writer here, who refers to Richad Sipe, suggests that a significant percentage of clerics with alcohol problems have homosexual issues. I would dare raise the question about what really is going on with the new archbishop of San Francisco? It seems fair to ask are there repressed homosexual issues?
So, just maybe, the new archbishop designate of San Francisco might need a little time out to reflect on some of the his blatant homophobic statements and his parroting of Benedict's message against same sex relationships that have been such a big part of Salvatore's rise to fame.
wild, I think he needs to sit down with his mother and discuss his issues. Too many priests of all ranks are really controlled by their mothers. On the other hand, that's not that unusual a phenomenon as part of becoming a real adult is getting over our parents.
DeleteI graciously waited to do that until both mine were dead. :)
Wild Hair, your comments and those of others seem to be right on with what Sipe Describes. One thing we no of this man is that he is drunk with power. His authoritarian style is what leads the Roman Church away from The Way of Christ. dennis
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing has some weird spots. He's taking his 88 year old mother home after midnight, having been at a dinner party with alcoholic beverages and a priest friend from outside the country.
DeleteHe gets a DUI at a checkpoint, which I think is pure Karma because he didn't get it because of his driving. Momma drives herself home. He goes to jail. Momma must be in very good physical condition. but I still wonder why he would take her to a party that went on after midnight. I mean really, I"m 30 years younger and I never stay up to midnight. This is all just weird.
Maybe he wasn't with his mother? Some of us are night owls?
DeleteMaybe there is an AA - Authoritarians Anonymous 12 Step program he could join, since he's drunk with authoritarianism?
Fran
Fran, your whit is sad but true. All the RCC Episcopacy should go to AA- Authoritarian Anonymous, but many should also go to Alcoholics Anonymous. So many of this group of old minds really need both forms of AA. dennis
DeleteAs a San Francisco born Catholic, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, i think Catholics should just ignore him--let him fulminate, issue his edicts, parrot the Vatican line, and let the institution slowly sink into irrelevance as more Catholics make their way to the exits. On the other hand, i would like to see progressive Catholics (especially gays) be all over him like an old suit, challenge him, picket him, embarrass him, disrupt him, shame him, until he wants to go elsewhere, anywhere. In appointing him as as AB of San Francisco, B16 is giving progressive the middle index finger--why not give it back to him?
ReplyDeleteSince so many right wing propagandists compare the homosexual orientation with alcoholism, a raised middle finger may be in order. As I say, I think this whole think is Karma.
DeleteThe Vatican could raise money for arrested priests' legal teams by marketing Eau d' Karma along with holy water.
Delete--HeilMary1
Heil, that's too funny since Pope Benedict actually does have a cologne designed especially for him. I don't think it's called Eau d' Karma though.
Delete