Salvatore J. Cordileone

Salvatore Joseph Cordileone (born June 5, 1956) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the archbishop of San Francisco, California.

Cordileone is chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Subcommittee for the Defense of Marriage. He has received criticism due to his outspoken opposition to same-sex civil marriage and LGBT adoption.

A conservative theologian, he is known for his willingness to use the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite of Mass.

Early life and ministry

Salvatore Cordileone was born in San Diego, California, and attended Crawford High School from 1971 to 1974. He then studied at San Diego State University for a year before entering the University of San Diego, from where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy in 1978. He then furthered his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, earning a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology, a type of post-graduate degree, in 1981.

Returning to the United States, Cordileone was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Leo Thomas Maher on July 9, 1982. He then served as an associate pastor at Saint Martin of Tours Parish in La Mesa until 1985, when he returned to the Gregorian and earned a doctorate in canon law in 1989. Cordileone, upon his return to the Diocese of San Diego, served as secretary to Bishop Robert Brom and a tribunal judge (1989–1990), adjutant judicial vicar (1990–1991), and pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Calexico (1991–1995).