The following is an excerpt of a letter from Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco:
September 21, 2018
Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle
Dear People of the Archdiocese of San Francisco,
In my letter to you of August 17, 2018, I explained that I would consult the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese and my Cabinet in order to determine how I would designate an act of reparation be conducted in the Archdiocese for the horrendous crimes of clerical sexual abuse. Since then, revelations have continued to unfold – especially with the publication of stories from the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report – which speak to the depth of the evil that occurred. The violations of sacred trust by those called to be spiritual fathers to God’s people fill us all with disgust and horror. Indeed, some of these incidents are nothing short of diabolical.
This is why our focus on the urgently needed reform in the Church must be on prayer and penance. As our Lord himself has said, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting” (Mk 9:29). At the same time, while this spiritual focus must always remain primary, there is more we have to do. During this time of rightful righteous indignation among our people, it is more important than ever that we, your leaders, listen to you. Therefore, in addition to the consultations I have already undertaken, I have also scheduled five opportunities for people in our Archdiocese to meet with me and speak to me directly. The schedule is as follows:
Sunday, September 30, 5 p.m.: St. Anthony, Novato
Sunday, October 7, 5 p.m.: St. Matthew, San Mateo
Wednesday, October 17, 7 p.m.: St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco
Thursday, October 18, 5 p.m.: St. Stephen, San Francisco
Sunday, October 28, 6 p.m.: Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont
Since the primary focus must always be on prayer, we will begin these sessions with praying the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours for the Evening Hour, Vespers. After that, those present will be able to ask questions and make comments. While I cannot claim to have all of the answers to the trials the Church is suffering at this time, I pledge to do my best to listen and respond.
While we must continue to discern what practical measures in the temporal order must be taken in order to achieve the reform we all earnestly seek, we must remember that none of it will have the desired effect without help from above. Therefore, in light of the discussions I have had, I am designating three successive First Fridays of the month for our priests to dedicate themselves to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to serious bodily fasting. Adoration will take place from 9:00am to 6:00pm on October 5, November 2 and December 7, and priests are asked to sign up for at least one hour (and preferably more if they can) of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on those days at one of the following locations:
St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco
St. Isabella Parish, San Rafael
St. Matthew Parish, San Mateo
On December 15th, these locations will host Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for you, our lay faithful, deacons and religious, to join with your priests in prayer, from 10:00am to 12:00 noon. Of course, you are also welcome to join them if you wish on any of the other three days of Adoration. Moreover, in light of the discussion at the Presbyteral Council meeting, I also ask our priests to take up a specific act of charity sometime during the week in which the First Friday occurs in October, November and December.
Sincerely yours in our Lord,
Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone
Archbishop of San Francisco
From Catholic San Francisco.
I commend the Archbishop for this with one possible caveat. If the audience at these events is ‘cherry picked’, then the effort is futile. If the events are open to one and all, and the Archbishop gives complete open answers, then this is a step in the correct direction.
So tired of this. it’s all for show. Nothing will change until the laity demand change.
Cut out all the BS. The answer is to give every priest in you Archdiocese a current and modern Psychological exam and test to determine which priests are Homosexual. then give them a chance to attend therapy sessions or,if not, kick them out. In San Francisco, as I was attending ST. Peter and Paul Grammar school and St. Ignatius High School we all knew who were classmates who were Homosexuals. We could not understand how they entered into the Priesthood. Of the three, one of them served 5 years in State prison for molesting males; the other was kicked out of the priesthood; the other fled to Mexico after a warrant…
And close Holy Redeemer parish in the Castro or send two or three very orthodox, very straight, very courageous priests to whip it into shape.
Being homosexual is not grounds for removal from the priesthood. And, no therapy can change their sexual orientation.
Twice the Vatican has definitively declared a prohibition on ordination of homosexuals:
1) 2005 – Pope Benedict XVI: “The Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”
2) 1961 – Saint John XXIII: “Advancement of religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers.”
BOOM!
Neither Pope said being homosexual was grounds for removal from the priesthood. Boom BOOM!
So, a candidate for the priesthood is not forthcoming about their homosexuality, knowing it has always been the case that the Church finds such individuals as unfit; (and please, no equivocation of the sort that Church doctrine has evolved or that there have always been homosexual priests). Even if the candidate informed his superiors who chose to ignore an admission, it is still wrong. But according to Anon, once ordained that’s it… you’re in, no matter that you and perhaps your superior knowingly violated Church law. Such logic and ethic is as tortured as it gets.
What assurances do the faithful have to know that you are sincere?
To mike m, anonymous and Lou: why are you so negative?? AbC is making a real effort to do what he can (listening to his flock is a good start) to right the boat. The least you can do is to help instead of complain/reject.
This is the same strategy used by Bishop McElroy in San Diego and Bishop McGrath of San Jose. When a progressive Bishop holds “listening sessions” the conservatives are critical and negative. When a conservative Archbishop holds listening sessions, the conservatives come out of the wood work praising him for taking action!
I read mostly criticism of this.
Archbishop, will you fire the open promoters of sin who wear vestments or work in your schools?
Start with the homosexuals who teach religion at Stuart Hall Boys School. Oh, yeah, they’re there. And the transsexual at Mercy High School. Oh, yeah… forgot about her/him? And the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Oh, yeah, that’s another phony catholic school. And Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton… that school is completely whacko and used to have an openly homosexual principal until he was promoted… get that? a homosexual principal at a catholic school is promoted. Archbishop, clean up your diocese.
Everyone-
If you go to any of the meetings in the Archdiocese of San Francisco that are coming up……PLEASE will you ask the Archbishop to reinstate the ‘St. Michael the Archangel’ prayer at ALL THE MASSES!!!
The more people ask, the more likely it will come to fruition.
That’s how Cardinal Dolan made up his mind….many people asked him.
my comment was intended to be neutral. Yes, what the Archbishop is doing is positive. My point was that if the audience is ‘stacked’ one way or the other, many will perceive the effort as futile. The Archbishop needs to hear and respect all.
Folks: There are no psychological tests that with 100% confidence can determine whether one is hetorosexual or homosexual. The most accurate method for determining sexual orientation is: self-disclosure. Some men who are perceived as gay are actually straight, and some men who are perceived as straight are actually gay! The same is true for women. Why? Because masculinity and femininity are a continuum! Not every man is hyper-masculine as, say a professional athlete or model, nor is every woman hyper-feminine as the popular models, female athletes or performers. Think about it.
Ah, good Archbishop, yes, indeed, prayer and fasting are key elements of a Catholic life, particularly when seeking to suppress and repent from sinning. Yet, what are you seeking to repent of? Clerical sexual abuse? What?
Excellency, you need to say its name: homosexuality. That is it. Pray to our God that He forgives the men of His Church from rejecting His Natural Law and sodomizing each other (and often then adding to that sin by saying Mass, providing the Sacraments, etc.). Say its name, Archbishop.
The archdiocese of Anchorage has made an online form on its website so that anyone can comment or ask questions.
I don’t live in Alaska.
Let’s just bring the trust to them our leaders can fix it.
What we need to learn is to sit with the broken. Just sit and let them tell their stories. Allow an hour or two before or after the meetings to talk with survivors.
And please have pity on those who made the mistake of trusting a priest when they were over 18.
I attended the listening session at St Matthew’s School in San Mateo on Saturday at 5 PM. They held it on a holiday weekend when most families go out of town ( the church leaders really know how to dodge an audience). The session started with Vespers followed by the Archbishop’s prepared speak . Archbishop Cordileone explained that he would limit his information and only talk about the timeframe from 1990 until today. The prayer and prepared speech ended around 6:10 . At that time, the audience was informed that the session would end at 7PM because the Archbishop is a very busy man . Any question related to the period prior to 1990 was answered repeatedly , “I don’t know”. If it wasn’t for the Vespers , it would have been a…
thank you itinerary notwithstanding…