Making a Mess in San Francisco
Pope Francis memorably called upon people to "make a mess" in the Catholic Church. If you would like to see what a "mess" looks like, San Francisco would be a good place to start. As most people know, San Francisco is maybe the most progressive city in the United States. What few know is that San Francisco has a strong and diverse Catholic presence and Catholic identity. Now, because of the first part the Catholic identity tends to be on the progressive side, but nevertheless the Catholic Church is a significant, visible presence in the city. The current Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, is a serious culture warrior-- in fact, he is the point man for the efforts of the U.S. bishops to oppose gay marriage . His selection by then Pope Benedict was seen, and it is hard to argue with this, as a bit of stick in the eye of the city that has always been at the forefront of gay rights issues since the 1970s. It was basically inevitable that...