San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom chooses historic Catholic church for part of second inauguration

Gavin Newsom, the divorced San Francisco mayor who provoked a constitutional crisis in 2004 by granting marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples, has chosen the historic Mission Dolores Basilica for a family Mass on the occasion of his inauguration to a second term.

Newsom and his family are scheduled to attend Mass at Mission Dolores tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 8, in what his press office is calling a “low-key” second inauguration....

The questions which come to mind are why Newsom would choose a Catholic church to begin with considering his public oppposition to Church teachings – and why any Catholic church or parish would agree to his request to use a church for his political ends. This is a scandal on the part of the church to allow this...

“Mission Dolores has always had a central place in the religious, civic, and cultural life of San Francisco,” says the Mission Dolores web site. “Misión San Francisco de Asís was founded June 29, 1776, under the direction of Father Junipero Serra and is both the oldest original intact Mission in California and the oldest building in San Francisco.

Serrans everywhere should be outraged that this is taking place...