Head of Catholic Church in SF to retire

The head of the Catholic Church inSan Francisco, who supported the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, is retiringin June.

Archbishop George Niederauer toldthe San Francisco Chronicle in aninterview published Thursday, April 21 that he'll submit his resignation letterJune 14, his 75th birthday.

"It doesn't happen rightaway, it can take a year and a half," Niederauer told the paper.

In the months leading up to theNovember 2008 election, when the state's voters passed the same-sex marriageban, Niederauer had asked leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints to become involved in it.

Mormons are believed to haveeventually contributed millions of dollars to the campaign to pass Prop 8. 

TheMormon Church's leadership was key in getting the measure passed, according tomany analyses of the campaign. Niederauer had served as the Catholic bishop ofSalt Lake City prior to coming to San Francisco, and had developed close tieswith Mormon leaders.

Matt Dorsey, a gay man who's beenon the parish council of San Francisco's Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church,wrote in a 2009 Bay Area Reporter op-edpiece that the San Francisco Archdiocese had produced and distributed campaignfliers to local parishes and schools, acknowledged as having been "Paidfor by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco," misleading peoplethat supporting Prop 8 would secure parental rights to teach children aboutmarriage.

Dorsey also noted that Niederauerhad voiced opposition to same-sex marriage in a video that appeared on theanti-gay website http://www.marriagematterstokids.org.

"I think people of faith candisagree about marriage equality, but I don't think we disagree that bearingfalse witness is wrong, and it's no less wrong when an archdiocese does it, soI hope ... it will apologize for it, or at least disavow it, which [Niederauer]still has never done," Dorsey said in an interview around that time.

Asked about Niederauer'sretirement, Molly McKay, media director for Marriage Equality USA, said sheisn't Catholic, but, "There are so many supportive people within theCatholic faith that support marriage equality, and the polling shows that, soyou hope at some point that will have a trickle-up effect of the leadership ofthe Catholic Church."

She added, "Especially in SanFrancisco, there are so many practicing gay and lesbian couples withchildren," one would hope "that at some point the Catholic Churchwill reevaluate its opposition to supporting same-sex couples."

 

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