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April 21, 2015 (CardinalNewmanSociety.org) — An online poll posted Friday by the San Francisco Chronicle—a strong critic of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s efforts to fortify the Catholic identity of San Francisco’s Catholic schools—is showing very strong support for the Archbishop’s courageous defense of Catholic teaching. The “weekly poll” is still accepting votes from visitors to the Chronicle website.

The Chronicle—which claims to be the largest circulation daily in northern California—published the poll on Friday, April 17. Readers are invited to respond to the question, “Should Pope Francis remove Archbishop Cordileone from the San Francisco archdiocese?”

As of Monday afternoon, April 20, almost nine out of 10 respondents supported the Archbishop. An overwhelming 77 percent of respondents selected the answer, “No, the archbishop is upholding the values of the Catholic Church.” Another 10 percent chose “No, the archbishop is right to oppose same-sex marriage,” which is not really distinct from “upholding the values of the Catholic Church.”

Only 11 percent responded with, “Yes, the archbishop is fostering a climate of intolerance.” And only 2 percent chose the selection, “Yes, his morality clauses for teachers in parochial schools defies the law.”

Judging from these responses, there is a significant measure of support for the archbishop, despite last week’s full-page ad from 100 “prominent Catholics” calling for Pope Francis to replace Archbishop Cordileone and accusing the Archbishop of encouraging “an atmosphere of division and intolerance.” The authors claimed to be “committed Catholics” following “the traditions of conscience, respect and inclusion upon which our Catholic faith was founded.”

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Dr. Dan Guernsey, director of The Cardinal Newman Society’s K-12 education programs, strongly criticized the ad as a false display of tolerance that was, in fact, intended by its signers “to tell the Pope and the world that they will not tolerate or include and indeed soundly condemn the archbishop of San Francisco.” He wrote:

These “anti-bully” bullies are doing what bullies do. They are seeking to gain in their own social status and self-concept by belittling, shaming and humiliating someone outside their local social norm. As the authors admit, the social sexual norms in the Bay Area are completely supportive of sex outside of natural marriage. Those who control the culture are dead set on humiliating and eliminating anyone who would not fully support their power and the status quo.

Dr. Jamie Arthur, manager of The Cardinal Newman Society’s Catholic Education Honor Roll, found the poll results “reassuring” as they revealed the sizeable presence of “faithful Catholics who overwhelmingly have supported Archbishop Cordileone in his efforts to uphold the values of the Catholic Church.”

Reprinted with permission from The Cardinal Newman Society