San Francisco mayor will not attend Levada’s installation in Rome

San Francisco, Calif., Mar 15, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The San Francisco delegation to Archbishop William Levada’s elevation to the College of Cardinals in Rome will have one less member. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom announced that he would not attend, after the Vatican reiterated its opposition to gay adoptions last week, reported the San Francisco Sentinel.

The Vatican had stated its opposition to gay adoptions in 2003 and Archbishop Levada, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterated this position last week. The archbishop had served the Archdiocese of San Francisco for 10 years.

Newsom expressed his concerned about what this recent reiteration of the Vatican’s position says to children who were placed with same-sex couples by San Francisco Catholic Charities.

In the last decade, San Francisco Catholic Charities has placed a few children with same-sex couples in rare and carefully considered cases. But a recent statement from Archbishop Levada indicated that no Catholic organization should place children with same-sex couples under any circumstances from now on.

“If we're supposed to be encouraging adoption, if we're supposed to be discouraging abortion which is principled — I absolutely believe that — then we also have to be encouraging placement in loving households,” added the mayor, a practicing Roman Catholic. Newsom suggested the Vatican should evolve in its position on this issue.

Police Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese will lead the delegation to the March 24 ceremony in Rome. The archbishop will be formally installed as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position which he took in August.