World News
Archbishop is 'collaborator' in helping lead the faithful to holiness
Published: October 5, 2012
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- On the feast of St. Francis of Assisi in the city of St. Francis, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone was installed at the ninth archbishop of San Francisco at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, and found inspiration in that patron saint to whom Jesus had said, "Francis, rebuild my house." On Oct. 4 at a Mass of installation, with some 40 other bishops from around the world and more than 250 priests and 64 deacons participating, Archbishop Cordileone began his work as shepherd to more than a half million Catholics of San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties. He talked about being a collaborator with 416 priests to help people get to holiness. "To you my flock here in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, please know how much I am looking forward to getting to know you all and together with you crafting a vision and plan for furthering the new evangelization here and so continue the good work that has been carried on in this local church for over 150 years," said Archbishop Cordileone, who succeeds retired Archbishop George H. Niederauer. Outside the cathedral, protesters denouncing Archbishop Cordileone's opposition to same-sex marriage held forth. He is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. But the two-hour-long Mass was without interruption and the only competition for the attention of the capacity crowd was the occasional fly-over by the Blue Angels. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, was the presiding bishop. Msgr. C. Michael Padazinski, chancellor of the archdiocese, read Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic letter appointing the new San Francisco archbishop, transferring him from Oakland, where he had been bishop for three years. The new archbishop, with humility and a dash of self-deprecating humor, mentioned in his homily that "God has always had a way of putting me in my place with little and sometimes big ways of reminding me of my need to depend upon him and to attend to the work of my own rebuilding from within."
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