SAN FRANCISCO — Pope Benedict XVI has named the bishop of Salt Lake City, the Most Rev. George H. Niederauer, as the new Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco.
The 69-year-old Niederauer succeeds Archbishop William J. Levada, who was appointed by the pope earlier this year as prefect of the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and became the highest-ranking American in the Vatican. The pope headed the same office before he was elected pontiff.
In moving from Salt Lake City to San Francisco, Niederauer will leave one of the most socially conservative regions in the United States for one of the most liberal. But he said that he would be even-handed in carrying out his new duties as archbishop of San Francisco.
"I'm going to try to get past labels," he said at a news conference Thursday at St. Mary's Cathedral Conference Center here. "I'm going to proclaim the good news of the church for the right, left and center." After 11 years in Salt Lake City, he is scheduled to be installed in his new post Feb. 15.
Niederauer's San Francisco appointment underscored Levada's new influence in Rome, one longtime church observer said. Father Thomas Reese, who has written books about American bishops, noted that Levada is also a member of the Congregation of Bishops, which recommends candidates for bishop to the pope. Levada and Niederauer are longtime friends and classmates, Reese said.
Niederauer, known for his sense of humor, quipped Thursday, "We're friends but we're not twins."
Levada, Niederauer and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, are seminary classmates.
"It's a win-win for both Levada and Mahony," Reese said.
Asked about the new Vatican guidelines that reinforce restrictions on gays entering the priesthood, such as remaining celibate for three years before starting seminary, Niederauer said a candidate's sexual orientation was less important than his "affective maturity," adding, "I'm not into labeling people."
Like all Catholic bishops, he said he could not support same-sex marriage. "I have the conviction, as does the church, that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. It doesn't mean that I don't care about and want to serve everyone in San Francisco," he said.
In Utah, however, Niederauer did not endorse the successful 2004 state constitutional amendment that prohibited same-sex marriages. Niederauer said that he believed existing state law already banned such unions and that a constitutional amendment was unnecessary.
