From Los Angeles Times
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Roman Catholic archbishop-elect of San Francisco has apologized for his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving, behavior that he said brought “shame” and “disgrace” on himself and the church, though legal experts said was unlikely to derail his promotion.
The Rev. Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement issued Monday by his office that he was driving home from a dinner with friends in San Diego with his mother and a visiting priest friend early Saturday when he was pulled over at a DUI checkpoint near San Diego State University.
The statement said a sobriety test showed his blood-alcohol level to be above the legal limit, although Cordileone did not reveal by how much.
“I apologize for my error in judgment and feel shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself,” he said. “I pray that God, in His inscrutable wisdom, will bring some good out of this.”
Cordileone, 56, currently serves as bishop of Oakland and is scheduled to be installed as San Francisco archbishop on Oct. 4, five days before his first court date.
Pope Benedict XVI selected him last month to replace Archbishop George Niederauer, who is retiring in October.
Cordileone was stopped around 12:30 a.m. on the outskirts of the campus, a residential area of modest houses, apartment buildings and restaurants where college students ….MORE