New SF Archbishop is Staunch Same-Sex Marriage Opponent

New Catholic leader once called gay marriage a plot by "the evil one."

The Vatican today named Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, a staunch opponent of gay marriage who backed Proposition 8 in 2008, as the new archbishop of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The Cordileone was named archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI following the resignation of previous Archbishop George Niederauer

Cordileone currently heads up the Oakland diocese. In his new job, he will oversee Catholics from Honolulu to Stockton.

He has called same-sex marriage a "plot by the 'evil one'" to destroy the world, the newspaper reported, which does not encourage some gay leaders in San Francisco.

"This is not a marriage made in heaven," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, told the newspaper.

Cordileone is also chairman of a national committee that opposes same-sex marriage.

Cordileone is 56 year old. He served as an auxiliary bishop in San Diego before being appointed to the position in Oakland in 2009. He is currently chairman of the Subcommittee on the Promotion and Defense of Marriage of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The outgoing Niederauer is 76 years old and had served as archbishop of San Francisco since December 2005.

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