Pope Benedict names Bishop Salvatore Cordileone Bishop of San Francisco

An EXCELLENT choice, but Bishop Cordileone will need A LOT of prayers in his new assignment, one of the most liberal Dioceses in the country.

Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Salvatore Cordileone the new Archbishop of San Francisco.

Born in 1956, Bishop Cordileone was ordained a priest of the Diocese of San Diego in 1982 and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego in 2002. He was named Bishop of Oakland in 2009.

Recognized as a leading force behind the 2008 passage of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, Bishop Cordileone was named chairman of the US bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage in 2011 by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Bishop Cordileone succeeds Archbishop George Niederauer, who has retired at age 76.