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San Francisco archbishop-elect charged with drunken driving
Published August 27, 2012
| Associated Press
SAN DIEGO – The Roman Catholic archbishop-elect of San Francisco was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence, San Diego police said Monday.
The Rev. Salvatore Cordileone was taken into custody after being stopped early Saturday at a police checkpoint near the San Diego State University campus, said Detective Gary Hassen, a police spokesman. He declined to comment on whether Cordileone took a sobriety test or reveal his blood-alcohol content.
The stop was made at 12:26 a.m. on the outskirts of the campus, an area populated by college housing, modest restaurants and low-slung apartment buildings.
There was no record of Cordileone being in custody on Monday. The San Diego city attorney’s office, which prosecutes misdemeanor DUI offenses, said it had not received a report on the arrest.
The San Francisco archdiocese did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.
Cordileone is a 56-year-old native of San Diego, where he was raised and ordained as a priest in 1982. In July, Pope Benedict XVI selected him to replace Archbishop George Niederauer, who is retiring in October. Cordileone was most recently bishop of Oakland and several years ago, he was an auxiliary bishop in San Diego.
The archdiocese serves more than 400,000 Catholics in the city and neighboring Marin and San Mateo counties. As archbishop, he will oversee the bishops in Honolulu, Las Vegas, Oakland, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Stockton.
More from the same article for some context:
An anecdote from person knowledge not the Internet: A new bishop in a diocese went to a social function at a parish where he had a little too much (although not too much) to drink. While driving alone to his residence after the function, His Excellency was stopped by a patrol car, because his car was swerving, although not too much and not on a busy street. When the policeman (who must have been a Catholic) recognized the bishop and let him go but with an oral warning to drive carefully the rest of the way (not too far) and to have a chauffeur on future occasions. His Excellency took the officer’s advice and always had a designated drive with him on future trips.
When I was in the seminary, I was stopped late at night running a red light with expired tags.
When I told the police officer my address (a church rectory at the time), he gave me back my license and registration and told me to be more careful next time.
Local reports indicate the bishop had his mother in his car with him. His BAC was 0.80 or whatever is the lowest possible count for them to make a fuss. That’s the equivalent of two beers or two glasses of wine. ( Probably half the members of this here forum are through that much before breakfast on a good day! : – ) )
Tom – excellent followup story. That’s the way to handle it. If I was about to be made Abp of Poofsterville, I’d probably be bombed outta my gourd 24/7!
Oy! What a job. Although, I’ll bet he gets a big discount on Rice-a-Roni and a free ride on the trolley every Tuesday.
This could have been a set-up.
Archbishop Cordileone issues statement on DUI arrest
CWN – August 28, 2012
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who was appointed head of the San Francisco archdiocese on July 27 and is scheduled to be installed on October 4, has issued a statement on his August 25 DUI arrest.
“While visiting in San Diego this past weekend, I had dinner at the home of some friends along with a priest friend visiting from outside the country and my mother, who lives near San Diego State University,” he said. “While driving my mother home, I passed through a DUI checkpoint the police had set up near the SDSU campus before I reached her home, and was found to be over the California legal blood alcohol level.”
“I apologize for my error in judgment and feel shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself,” he continued. “I will repay my debt to society and I ask forgiveness from my family and my friends and co-workers at the Diocese of Oakland and the Archdiocese of San Francisco. I pray that God, in His inscrutable wisdom, will bring some good out of this.”
Archbishop Cordileone will appear in court on October 9.
Additional sources for this story: Archbishop: ‘Error in judgment’ in San Diego DUI arrest (KFMB-TV) www.cbs8.com/story/19387008/archbishop-error-in-judgment-in-san-diego-dui-arrest?clienttype=printable
Bishop Cordileone has moved up his installation in San Francisco to October 4, 2012–five days before his arraignment instead of the previous six days after. Apparently His Excellency does not want to take any chances that he might be in jail for his installation, because in California drunk driving carries a mandatory jail sentence.