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San Francisco Archbishop to Give Highest Honours to Abortion and Homosexual "Rights" Supporter

By Hilary White

SAN FRANCISCO, April 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, George Niederauer has announced that he will include a well-known supporter of abortion and Planned Parenthood in his annual diocesan philanthropy award. George M. Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Marcus & Millichap Co., a real estate investment firm, has donated funds to oppose protecting children from abortion, and to support embryonic stem cell research and homosexual "marriage".

California Catholic Daily reports that in October 2005 Marcus donated $25,000 to the "No" campaign on Proposition 73 that would have required that parents of an underage girl be notified before she has an abortion. He gave a total of $100,000 in 2006 to oppose a similar notification measure, Proposition 85. Both measures were supported by the California bishops Conference.

Marcus also donated $50,000 to the "Yes on 71" campaign that succeeded in seeing $3.5 billion allocated by the government for embryonic stem cell research. In May 2007, Marcus gave $3,600 to the "Mark Leno for Senate" campaign. Every year, Assemblyman Leno sponsors legislation to overturn Prop. 22 and legalize same-sex "marriage" in California.

Niederauer told the San Francisco diocesan newspaper that the annual Catholic Charities CYO's Loaves and Fishes Award is given to those who show "genuine concern for and effective action in improving the lives of those in need in our community." The awards will be given out tonight at Catholic Charities' annual "Loaves and Fishes" gala dinner.

Another recipient of this year's award will be Levi Strauss & Co., the jeans manufacturer that has long been a leader in corporate support for the homosexual activist movement.

In June 2004 a statement signed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said, "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, said it is "beyond my imagination" that  Archbishop Niederauer should honour "someone who is an enemy of the Church," known for supporting Planned Parenthood, embryonic stem cell research, and for opposing regulations on abortion.

"But then again," Brown said, "if I recall correctly, he is the same archbishop who gave the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist to two avowed homosexuals who were, at the time, wearing costumes designed to mock Catholic women religious. On that occasion, the archbishop claimed he did not notice the costumes!"

"Since the event at which Planned Parenthood's supporter, George Marcus, is to be honored is scheduled for this evening, one has to wonder if once again we will learn, after the fact, that he simply didn't notice."

Archbishop Neiderauer is developing a record as one of the most useful of the US Catholic bishops for the abortion and homosexual "rights" movements. In February 2007, in an interview with KCBS radio in San Francisco, Neiderauer refused to answer hard questions about communion for pro-abortion politicians, ordination of homosexuals and homosexual adoption. He claimed not to be aware of the position on abortion of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and one of the abortion lobby's most powerful "Catholic" voices.

The archbishop approved a compromise between the state of California and Catholic Charities on the adoption of children by homosexual partners that saw the Church involved with a secular agency to carry out homosexual adoptions. When asked about this by KCBS, Archbishop Neiderauer replied that he was "really very happy" with the situation, despite the official Church teaching on the matter that considers adoption of children by homosexual couples to be an act of "violence" toward the child. 

Brown continued, "It is a source of grave concern to all of us at American Life League that Archbishop Niederauer continues to participate in occasions of scandal by his apparent lack of concern over matters as serious as this one."

"How a prelate of the Catholic Church could be involved at any level with a man who supports the world's leading abortion provider is simply beyond belief."

Archbishop Niederauer has also repeatedly supported the aims of the homosexualist lobby.

In 2004, Archbishop Niederauer publicly opposed a Utah ballot initiative that constitutionally banned same-sex marriage because it included a ban on civil unions.

In 1996, as bishop of Salt Lake City, he helped form a coalition of religious leaders opposing the ban on high-school "gay-straight alliances" proposed by the Utah legislature.

In 1986, Niederauer wrote a letter to an Orange County judge asking that a priest convicted of 26 counts of felony child sexual abuse be spared prison time - the priest received no jail time for the offences. Niederauer wrote that the boys involved might have mistaken "horsing around" for molestation. Niederauer later admitted that the letter had been a "mistake." 

To write with concerns to the
Vatican's Congregation for Bishops:
Giovanni Battista Re, Cardinal, Prefect
Francesco Monterisi, Secretary
Palazzo della Congregazioni,
00193 Roma,
Piazza Pio XII, 10
Phone: 06.69.88.42.17
Fax: 06.69.88.53.03

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Homosexual Activists Cheer Appointment of New San Francisco Archbishop
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05122203.html

Apologizing San Francisco Archbishop Has History of "mistakes" Related to Homosexuality
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07101204.html

San Francisco Archbishop Niederauer Says He Doesn't Know Nancy Pelosi Stand on Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020802.html

San Francisco's "Gay Parish" Pastor Says Reaction to Sacrilegious Communion "Overblown"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07102304.html

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