San Francisco Archbishop is not vaccinated but still distributes communion

Parishioners ask controversial leader to stay home

… my “immune system is strong”

Pretty embarrassing for the boss to be told that he cannot visit one of his churches. 

Salvatore Cordileone was just asked to cancel a visit to one of the churches in his archdiocese that was scheduled for this weekend. 

The reason was simple: The San Francisco archbishop is not vaccinated, and St. Agnes Church has a policy that all if its priests must have taken the vaccine. 

Yes, an archbishop of a large diocese refuses to take a vaccine even though it will prevent the spread of Covid-19 in their diocese. 

Admitted to being unvaccinated

Earlier this month, Cordileone, whom many have been trying to remove as their leader for years, admitted that he had not been vaccinated. Imagine giving out communion without a mask and without a vaccine. 

That is what he does, supposedly on advice of “his doctor,”

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who has advised Catholics to get the vaccine against COVID-19, revealed this week that he has not yet been vaccinated himself and offered explanations that may confuse the issue for some of his flock.

In a Dec. 1 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s “It’s All Political” podcast, Cordileone said he learned from his primary health physician that he has “a good immune system.”

“He told me that it’s probably not necessary for me to be vaccinated,” Cordileone said, adding that his physician didn’t dissuade him from receiving the COVID-19 shot. Cordileone mentioned an instance when he was in a confined space with someone who he later learned had COVID-19. He tested himself and was negative, he said.

“If I started feeling symptoms, I would test myself. I’d stay home,” said Cordileone, who in November attended the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The event did not have a vaccine mandate.

Alejandra Molina, “San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone reveals he is not vaccinated against Covid-19,” America/Religion News Service, December 7, 2021

Making things worse are his rationale for refusing the vaccine. 

Vaccine is “just a shot”

Cordileone, who has been outspoken against abortion and same-sex marriage, also incorrectly said that the coronavirus inoculations “are not really vaccines.”

“We think of a vaccine as a shot that gives you immunity to a disease for life or at least for a very long time. And these actually don’t give any immunity at all. They give protection,” Cordileone said in the interview.

The prelate’s comments about the vaccine come as the first U.S. case of the omicron coronavirus variant was detected in San Francisco on Dec. 1. Although Cordileone isn’t vaccinated, he said in the Chronicle interview that he is “not an anti-vaxxer.”

Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service, December 7, 2021

Vaccines protect others, save lives

Cordileone was one of those right-wing bishops first appointed John Paul II, who had a litmus test for elevating bishops: They had to be anti-Vatican II and right-wing social warriors. 

He does not understand Christ’s admonition to “Lovy thy neighbor as thyself,”

John Gehring, Catholic program director for Faith in Public Life, criticized Cordileone for his “my body, my choice” position when it comes to a vaccine that “saves lives.”

“We get the vaccine to protect others, not just ourselves. It’s called the common good,” Gehring said on Twitter.

Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service, December 7, 2021

The pastor of St. Agnes Church was courageous and does understand the admonition of loving your neighbor,

December 19 was the day Archbishop Cordileone was scheduled to visit Saint Agnes Church. Several weeks before his visit, churchgoers like Rita Clunies-Ross voiced concerns. Now this church is taking a stance.

"I called him and spoke with him and asked him to re-schedule his visit for a later time because many people in the parish had expressed concern about this. I feel it is important that everyone feel safe, and we all do our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially now with the new Omicron Variant. These are stressful times enough and I felt his pastoral visit to us would be overshadowed by concerns about the pandemic," said a bulletin Pastor George Williams posted on the church's website, letting the parishioners know Archbishop Cordileone won't be visiting them for now.

The San Francisco Archdiocese has been outspoken about the COVID vaccine, encouraging San Franciscans to get vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the archbishop is unvaccinated.

“SF Church asks Archbishop Cordileone to re-schedule visit because he’s 

unvaccinated,” KGO-San Francisco, December 8, 2021

The archbishop was forced to eat a piece of humble pie,

In a statement the Archdiocese responded, "Health care decisions are a very personal matter. Archbishop Cordileone has every confidence in Father Williams' ability to know his people well, and respond to their sensitivities with compassion."

SF Church asks Archbishop Cordileone to re-schedule visit because he’s unvaccinated,” KGO-San Francisco, December 8, 2021

Such a poor example for a leader.