Why was a college student in the car of drunken Archbishop-elect Cordileone at 12:26 AM, when Cordileone was arrested for a DUI?

Listen very carefully to the announcer of a local San Diego news station:


“According to police, 56 year old bishop Salvatore Cordileon was driving along the edge of SDSU when he entered a sobriety checkpoint he appeared drunk and was arrested shortly after midnight. He was in the car with his elderly mother and a foreign exchange student, a young male adult.”


If San Francisco Archbishop-elect Cordileone were just the simple priest that he claimed to be to at his arrest, his superior would have demanded explanations.


What were you doing driving drunk?


What was a college student doing in your passenger seat at that time of night?


After you dropped off your mother, where did you intend to go, and what were you going to do when you arrived?


Have you ever spent time with, or socialized, with this young man prior to your arrest? If so in what context and what is the nature of your relationship?


The matter would be brought to the attention of the bishop, and it would most probably affect his career and, of course, it would be handled discreetly.


The fact that Cordileone’s mother was present in the car with Cordileone and the young student would not clear the concerns or suspicions from the mind of a superior. Consider the statements of the police:




“Cordileone's mother, who was a passenger, was allowed to drive the mid-size black car home following her son's arrest after officers made sure she had not been drinking and had a valid license, McCullough [the arresting police officer] said.”


and:

"He was a driver that was obviously impaired,” Officer Mark McCullough also stated.



These two statements from police clearly indicate that Cordileone’s mother was sober and capable of driving the car that night. The second statement by officer McCullogugh that “he [Cordileone] was…obviously impaired” raises some serious questions about both the judgment and the laxity of Cordileone’s mother, with respect to her son. She can’t tell, or is unwilling to protest, that he is obviously drunk and poses a threat to human life behind the wheel of an automobile. How objective and outspoken would she be about a possible inappropriate relationship with a young student?


A superior/pastor/bishop would ask all of these questions of Salvatore Cordileone and so, it surprises me that the press does not. Then again, the Catholic hierarchy has much experience in managing the press. This is not a story they want pursued, it would be highly inconvenient in an election year. Especially on the same week that the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), New York Archbishop cardinal Dolan blesses the Republican National Convention and Mitt Romney’s bid to replace Obama as President. If Romney wins, the USCCB’s social conservativism will become national policy and this increases both USCCB [Vatican] power and prestige.



Cordileone is not a simple priest. He is:


“Known as "the architect of Proposition 8," the 56-year-old played a pivotal role in convincing many Catholic organizations in California to help bankroll the 2008 campaign to overturn the state's same-sex marriage law. With his help, Prop 8 supporters raised some $1.5 million, which went a long way toward helping get the measure passed.”



That is why Benedict XVI promoted him to put a lid on gay San Francisco and use that position to influence politicians to deny LGBT Civil Rights. In this election cycle the bishops define morality as being about sex, specifically controlling women and LGBT people. Archbishop-elect Cordileone’s arrest on a DUI can be handled; the fact that a young male student was a passenger in the drunken bishop’s car is a monstrous embarrassment to the USCCB’s agenda. It could have far reaching negative political consequences for Benedict’s plan to stop Marriage Equality in the USA.



Post Script

What can we do now?

1. Determine the identity of the young male student who was a passenger in Cordileone’s car on the night of his arrest.

2. Interview that young male student and publish his story.

Whose Freedom of Religion/Conscience?

I received a comment from a reader, which is posted on the preceding blog comments. Occasionally, I post a response as a blog, because I believe the comment contains sentiments/ideas that touch on general interest.


Dear Silias,


In regard to your statement,



“Actually, democracies have THE WORSE [worst] record of protecting minority rights of all types of governments, historically speaking.”


I would very strongly disagree with your assertion. You need merely consider the Twentieth Century to realize the absurdity of such a claim. The Third Reich under Hitler, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and the People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong (all totalitarian regimes) together arguably murdered more people than all other governments combined in all previously recorded history. Incidentally, democracies constitute a small sliver of all forms of human government throughout history, the overwhelming majority have been authoritarian governments in which the common people have had little or no voice in decisions directly affecting their daily lives such as the subject at hand, their health care.


I agree with your sentiments regarding minority rights in the face of majority rule; in fact, I have argued that very point in previous articles. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the courts exist to protect minority rights (admittedly imperfectly) against majority tyranny.


That stated I think you have misunderstood the thrust and main point of my article.
I think it prudent, as my old philosophy professor used to say, to begin by clearly defining our terms. Specifically, what is meant by the expression “Freedom of Religion/Conscience.” Black’s Law dictionary, Seventh edition, defines Freedom of Religion as,



“The right to adhere to any form of religion or none, to practice or abstain from practicing religious beliefs, and to be free from governmental interference with or promotion of religion, as guaranteed by the First Amendment and Article VI, Section 3 of the U. S. Constitution.”



Since laws are the codified values of a people, Black’s definition provides us with definition that represents both the legal, and culturally normative understanding of the term Freedom of Religion/Conscience in the USA. Reading that definition it becomes apparent that this right is primarily conferred upon individual citizens and secondarily upon associations of like-minded people (including religious organizations).


The bishops claim that a mandate that Catholic institutions (e.g. universities, charitable agencies) provide insurance coverage (such coverage normatively includes reproductive services/procedures) to employees, students and their dependents violates Catholic’s Freedom of Religion/Conscience.


The bishops are attempting to redefine Freedom of Religion/Conscience as being primarily, or at the very least equally, accorded to institutions (e.g. the Catholic hierarchy) and secondarily, or at most only equally, to citizens. The NCCB seeks to interpret a special right/privilege that they will first, use to effectively impose their views/beliefs and practices upon subordinated people (i.e. employees, students, staff, and their dependents). Second, to carve out and enshrine a special legal status for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) within American society.


Ironically, the practical effect of their demands will involuntarily impose NCCB beliefs/values/practices on citizens, who happened to be their employees/students/and dependents thereof, regardless of the beliefs, values and practices of these subordinated people. In effect, the NCCB will trample on the Freedom of Religion/Conscience of individual citizens (employees/students/and the dependents thereof) through raw economic coercion. If you work for us, or attend one of our universities, we will involuntarily exclude you from normative health care insurance benefits that contradict the employer’s religion, regardless of your religious beliefs or practices.


An employee, student, etc of a Catholic institution would have their conscience effectively overruled by the bishops; unless they could afford to pay for these services/medications/procedures out of pocket and many cannot. This has the practical effect of violating the Freedom of Religion/Conscience of employees, students and their dependents.


The fact that a majority of Catholics find no moral issue with disregarding the bishop’s prohibition of contraception, unmasks that this is NOT about the issue of Freedom of Religion/Conscience, as it has been historically understood. Nor is this per se about contraception. This is about power and control by the bishops of American law and society, period.


This is not an attack on Catholics by the government; in fact, it is the government protecting the Freedom of Religion/Conscience of all its citizens (including Catholics) against a powerful elite attempting to force its very narrow interpretation of Catholicism involuntarily on others by redefining Freedom of Religion/Conscience and attempting to intimidate elected officials.


The most succinct and insightful statement on the hierarchy I’ve yet heard was voiced by the Prime Minister of Ireland, a historically Catholic nation, when he said to the Parliament of that nation,




Prime Minister Enda Kenny denounced to lawmakers last week what he called "the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism – and the narcissism – that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day."

P.S.: More "Special Rights" for Catholic institutions.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

Those words come from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, scene II, where they are spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. The phrase aptly describes the bishop's overblown "outrage" over contraception.

In 23 years of pastoral service and experience, I can confidently state that an average of 3% of practicing Catholics strictly follow the teachings of the hierarchy on contraception. More disturbing than this for the bishops is reported in the following Huffington Post article,


The exemption debate has largely focused on Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies. Critics of the HHS mandate say it forces institutions to subsidize treatments that violate the tenets of their faith. Parishes and other church organizations focused on preaching and teaching the faith are exempt from the mandate.

Nearly half of Americans (49 percent) say that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should be required to provide employees with free contraception coverage. Nearly as many (46 percent) say they should not.
A majority of Catholics (58 percent) support the contraception mandate generally. While Catholic Church teaching proscribes the use of artificial birth control to avoid conception, 98 percent of Catholics use contraception, according to separate surveys.




Aquinas said that we must follow our own conscience, even if it means excommunication, since it is our conscience that will acquit or accuse us at the end of our life. Religious Freedom (Freedom of Conscience) applies primarily to individuals and not to institutions. It means that no one, especially the state, or religious "authorities" can dictate to an individual what they must do, or practice in matters of conscience. Moral teachers, like parents, can give guidelines and help to develop values, but they cannot make every moral decision for a child, especially after the child reaches adulthood, or an adherent. You cannot abdicate your personal conscience to another person or an institution (cf. Nuremberg trials).


Religious Freedom (Freedom of Conscience) is primarily applied to individuals. No one should be able to impose upon an individual beliefs or practices with which they disagree. Religious Freedom (Freedom of Conscience) is secondarily applied to Religious Organizations since these are voluntary associations of like-minded people, e.g. churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, etc. These organizations enjoy Religious Freedom/Freedom of Conscience, because their individual members enjoy these freedoms. However, these organizations may not use these Freedoms as a license to attempt to impose their beliefs/practices on the whole of society. If they attempt this, these institutions become guilty of violating the Religious Freedom of individuals. Ironically, the very attempt to use legal coercion on others constitutes in and of itself a violation of the principle of Freedom of Religion/Conscience that they invoke.


If an insurance company provides a benefit, it does not mean that you must use it. However, it is quite another matter to insist that others (especially your employees, students, or other subordinated peoples) not have that same option. The Jehovah Witnesses might just as well take exception that they are required to pay for your blood transfusion, a procedure they consider immoral. The Society of Friends (Quakers), religious pacifists, could well object to their tax dollars supporting the maintenance of the military and financing foreign wars. Orthodox Jewish people could object to their tax dollars supporting food programs that include non-Kosher items and preparation practices at public schools.


What is particularly offensive about this feigned outrage on the part of the bishops is that it is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to increase their political power. Katherine Stewart, writing in the Guardian brilliantly captures the logical and moral inversion the bishops are attempting with their feigned outrage over "Religious Freedom."



“In the writings and speeches of Catholic bishops and evangelical leaders in recent months, "religious freedom" has come to mean something close to its opposite. It now stands for "religious privilege". It is a coded way for them to state their demand that religious institutions should be allowed special powers that exempt them from the laws of the land.”



It is time the Vatican cleaned their own house first, and held personally accountable/punished bishops who Covered-Up pedophilia to protect the corporate wealth and "reputation" of dioceses. Apply Catholic social teaching to Diocesan employment (wage/benefit) practices AND then perhaps, they will have the moral authority to address general social issues. They would certainly look far less ridiculous to their clergy and the faithful. Then again, their attempt to mobilize society against Marriage Equality and The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act may simply be an effective way to divert the public's attention from the bishop's role in the Cover-Up scandal.

Ten Minutes in Hell

I viewed the following video this morning on Huffington Post and am sharing it, along with some insights here with you now.

Things to keep in mind as you view this video:

• The bus-monitor in this video is an adult who has volunteered to help keep order and peace on the bus. Presumably she is acting with the authority of the school and parents. Her testimony of events would carry a weight of credulity normally not assigned to an adolescent by adult authority figures.

• The woman on the bus possesses the emotional, psychological and spiritual development of an adult. She is a widow, a mother, a grandmother and has years of experience to help her cope with the assaults she suffers on this bus ride. A child or adolescent does not possess this experience, skill set, or adult level of development to help him/her cope with such a barrage of abuse.

• The woman on this video can quit in her role as a volunteer bus monitor and never have to endure this level of abuse again. A student must suffer this abuse twice per day, nine months of the academic year, throughout junior high school and high school years.


WARNING: This video contains offensive language and is disturbing to view. Unlike you, students are not free to “turn this off,” many endure similar treatment on a daily basis.





THE GOOD NEWS: You can do something to make a real difference.

Here are hyperlinks to various Anti-Bullying Organizations. Find out more information, become informed and personally involved. You can do this, you can make a difference, and you can be a voice for the voiceless now and in your community.

• Bully Police USA
• Bullying UK
• Bullying. No Way!
• Great Schools
• International Bullying Prevention Association
• National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
• National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)

• National Bullying Prevention Center (A Project of PACER Center)
• Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
• PFLAG: Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesibians and Gays
• Schools Anti Bullying Web Gateway
• Stomp Out Bullying
• Stopbullying.gov
• Striving To Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE)
• Social Web Watch

The Times, they are a change'n

Last night I received a message from a former parishioner at Holy Family Church in Visalia. The parishioner informed me that the Visalia City Council was about to pass a resolution commending and honoring the LGBT Pride Parade in downtown Visalia.
A Parade may seem like a small thing, especially in an Election year, but it represents a tectonic shift in hearts and minds on Main Street.


I had the honor and privilege of serving as the Pastor of Holy Family Church in Visalia from June 1993 through April 2008. An official directive regarding the education and formation of priests I once read as a seminarian stated that a priest was to be a catalyst for his parish. A catalyst is something that changes, without being changed.


As I reflect back on twenty-three years of service in active ministry I realize how absurd the idea of a priest as “a catalyst” is really. If you remain unchanged after hearing confessions, where people open their hearts in confidence and reveal to you what they reveal to no other person.


Parishioners opened their hearts to me; I am still in awe at the capacity that the human heart possesses to suffer in silence, not for a week, or a month, but for years and decades. Some of those parishioners were LGBT people. I did the best I could to counsel and guide them over those years. I recall some happy breakthroughs, reconciled family members and healed lives.


I also recall reading an Opinion to the Editor piece in the Visalia Times Delta in the 1990’s. Someone had written regarding an outrage against the LGBT minority in Visalia. Honestly, I don’t remember what the particular issue was per se there have been so many injustices over the years that frankly, it is impossible to remember them all. What I do vividly recall is that the author of the Op-Ed piece asked, “Where are the clergy’s voices?”


Those words stung at my conscience as I quietly ate my breakfast at Carrows restaurant on Mooney Blvd. across the street from Visalia Community College. I thought of all the “good” reasons why I could not publicly speak out. The work I had done and was doing with parishioners. Working to change the Church from within. These were subjects that came up periodically when speaking with other priests.


Frankly, there was also the question of my life. I had what one friend called “a recession-proof job” with health care benefits, retirement benefits, one month paid vacation per year, two weeks private retreat per year, paid housing, an expense account, a flexible schedule, and I really loved and enjoyed my work.


There was something I read that also caused me much thought:

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

-Elie Wiesel


My parents left everyone and everything behind when they left Cuba, so that my brother and I could live in freedom. All of these thoughts and more importantly the flesh and blood human beings who I was privileged to serve over the years changed me. When the late bishop John T. Steinbock directed us to promote “Yes on Prop 8” I could not. It was immoral. It was wrong on every level. It remains a discriminatory law motivated at best by ignorance and fear, and at worst by hatred and bigotry.


So when I heard that the city of Visalia (in the heart of the “Reddest” part of California) had voted to pass a resolution honoring the LGBT Pride Parade in downtown Visalia; I smiled. I smiled for all the good people I was privileged to know and serve. I smiled for Eric James Borges a 19 year old who took his own life after a lifetime of suffering from the same hatred and bigotry that inspired Prop 8. I smiled for Robin McGhee, a professor in Visalia who founded GetEQUAL to push for Full Federal Equality for LGBT Americans, using the principles of Non-violent Direct Action taught by Gandhi and Dr. King.



Visalia may be a small town (by California standards) but it makes up in spirit for what it lacks in physical size. That spirit and the hope it engenders are opening hearts and minds throughout our nation and our world. It represents what is most noble in the human heart and mind. It is why we will not lose.

Gay Priest to Minnesota Catholics: You Can Oppose Marriage Discrimination

Father Bob Pierson quoted a theologian, Joseph Ratzinger's words as the reason why Catholics can validly dissent from the hierarchy's orders on "how to vote." “Our holy father taught in 1967 that we must obey our own conscience, even if it puts us at odds with the Pope. I doubt that he knew that he was going to be Pope when he said that.” Father Bob is a living reminder that all faith must both be grounded in reason and be reasoned. He is also a living reminder that all faiths, at core, share the central value of compassion. When any faith stays from this value, it strays from its polar star and the truth.

Out of the Box, from Integrity of Episcopal USA

"Voices of Witness: Out of the Box" is a groundbreaking documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith. Courageously inviting the viewer into their journeys, the film is ultimately a celebration of hope and the power of God's love to transcend even seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Produced by Integrity’s Communication Director Louise Brooks, the film is being offered by Integrity USA as a gift to the Episcopal Church, as a resource for both teaching and transformation.