In little Britain we are now beginning to taste something of what US Catholics have been rejoicing in for years: the appointment of Bishops who are enthusiastically welcomed by Catholics who attend Mass every Sunday, still go to confession, support Humanae Vitae and drive miles to find reverent Liturgy.
In the States today, there is no little rejoicing over the appointment of Bishop Salvatore Cordileone to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Aged 56 (and therefore, Deo volente, in for 19 years of ministry to the Archdiocese, Bishop Cordileone has on his shoulders the responsibility for preaching the Catholic faith to one of the most difficult diocese in the States, particularly on the question of same sex attraction and same sex marriage.
Archbishop Cordileone worked with Archbishop Burke at the Apostolic Segnatura and is likely to be a key figure in the now well advanced project of backbone insertion in the USCCB. In a good article with background to the appointment, Rocco Palmo writes:
For liberal Catholics, meanwhile, the appointment is likely to be received as something akin to the city's Great Earthquake of 1906, or even more apocalyptic events."Salvatore Cordileone" translates as "Saviour Lionheart". May God give Sua Eccellenza the grace to be such.
5 comments:
Excellent news!
I remember attending Mass at the London Oratory, either last year or the year before, in which the now Archbishop-elect Cordileone was the celebrant.
As a Catholic in a diocese that has had staunch conservative leadership for decades (Lincoln, NE), I can only congratulate the faithful in San Francisco for acquiring a shepherd who is not afraid to confront the wolves stalking his flock. As one article said today - The Holy Spirit has guts. This appointment, the latest in several that His Holiness had made putting bona fide conservatives into high profile episcopal positions in the US, is probably the most courageous of all. And the faithful in San Francisco can look forward to having him around for quite some time, for unless he's hijacked to Rome, he's unlikely to be moved into any other diocese, since San Francisco's seat is a major episcopal seat, and remember, he's only 56. There's a good two decades of Archbishop (and probably sometime soon, Cardinal) Cordileone fated for San Francisco. And one final thought - now, perhaps, we might finally see the long overdue excommunication of Nancy Pelosi. The sooner she and the other CINO's are removed from the Church's rolls the better off the Church will be. It becomes very difficult for NPR to spin the comments of such as she as being representative of Catholic reaction when the Church has officially said they are not Catholic.
Alas that Savior Lionheart's new cathedral will be just as hideous as the concrete bunker that serves as the cathedral of his present Diocese of Oakland (the Eye of Sauron meets the Superdome).
Dear Fr Tim, You state: "Archbishop Cordileone worked with Archbishop Burke at the Apostolic Segnatura". I really doubt this. Cardinal Burke was appointed Bishop of La Crosse on December 10, 1994, and was consecrated bishop at the hands of Blessed Pope John Paul II in St Peter's about a month later, on January 6, 1995. (He was one of 10 episcopal ordinands, including Javier Echevarría Rodríguez, Prelate of Opus Die and, by coincidence or otherwise, now a member of the Apostolic Signatura.)
It was six months later that the then Fr Salvatore J. Cordileone left his post as PP of the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Calexico, California (approximately 95% Hispanic/Latino; the new Archbishop's facility in Spanish will greatly help in his new post), to take up his appointment in the Apostolic Signatura.
Which, of course, is totally irrelevant to the main point: what a marvellous appointment AND what a courageous man to accept it.
You've already raised "His Eminence" Mons Cordileone to the College of Cardinals?
San Francisco has never had a cardinal archbishop, I think, although Mons Cordileone may well merit the sacred purple, please God!
Post a Comment