Benedict XVI Names Architect of Prop 8 Architect Archbishop of San Francisco

With his appointment of Bishop Salvatore Cordileone as the new Archbishop of San Francisco Pope Benedict XVI has signaled that the persecution of out and well adjusted gays remains a high priority for the bitter old queens in dresses at the Vatican.  Corfileone was one of the central strategists in the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California and seems consumed with a level of homophobia that suggests he must secretly be dying to enjoy some hot gay sex.  Time and time again, those who are the most stridently anti-gay are the ones you can expect to be caught in a gay tryst or, in the case of Catholic clergy, named in a lawsuit brought by a former child or teenage victim od sexual abuse.  I can only assume that men like Cordileone are driven by a desire to make everyone else as miserable as they are themselves.  The San Diego Gay and Lesbian News has coverage.  Here are highlights:

Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, one of the leading architects in the campaign to pass the discriminatory Proposition 8 in California, has been named the new Archbishop of San Francisco by Pope Benedict XVI.

Cordileone played a central role in founding and executing the Protect Marriage campaign, and under his influence, Catholic organizations in California played a leading role in financing the Prop 8 campaign. His partners included the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and Focus on the Family. In fact, it was Cordileone who personally phoned NOM co-founder Maggie Gallagher and asked her to get NOM involved in the Prop 8 fight.

Now, as Archbishop of San Francisco, Cordileone will oversee more than 400,000 Catholic parishioners across 90 parishes. As a metropolitan archbishop, Cordileone will have bishops in dioceses including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Honolulu, Sacramento and Reno under his supervision.

“Catholic teaching calls on us to love our neighbors and to treat others with the same respect we wish for ourselves. Unfortunately, Bishop Cordileone’s crusade against LGBT people indicates he doesn’t take these particular teachings to heart. While LGBT Catholics and their allies have worked relentlessly to create welcoming environments, the appointment of Bishop Cordileone sends a chilling message that, in the eyes of the hierarchy, same-sex relationships are not worthy of equal dignity and respect,” [HRC president Chad] Griffin said.

Bishop Cordileone’s extremist views are out of step with the majority of Catholics. A May 2012 Gallup poll found support for marriage equality among Catholic at more than 50%, as did a recent poll from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.