Eugene L. Conrotto: Archbishop, Father Illo bad fits in San Francisco
The astonishing April 16 ad in the San Francisco Chronicle calling for Pope Francis to replace Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone resonated with group of Modesto friends. We came together eight years ago volunteering to escort women seeking Planned Parenthood services through a hostile crowd of “pro-lifers,” some holding pictures of bloody fetuses. Besides our group’s core belief that a woman’s reproductive rights were strictly her business, we also were no fans of the local priest at St. Joseph’s, Father Joseph Illo, who appeared to encourage the demonstrators.
Among Archbishop Cordileone’s shortcomings, the ad states, is installing a pastor for Star of the Sea Catholic Church – the very same Father Illo – whom the ad describes as having “a troubled history of questionable judgment.”
Father Illo famously got in a bit of trouble in Modesto when he suggested Catholics who voted for politicians who condoned abortion might be denied communion. The Stockton bishop publicly reversed that edict. A stroy in the Chronicle notes Cordileone’s support for the “extreme views” of Star of the Sea pastor Joseph Illo.
The ad is signed by over a hundred parishioners, virtually a who’s who of prominent Bay Area Catholics.
Eugene Conrotto, Modesto
This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Eugene L. Conrotto: Archbishop, Father Illo bad fits in San Francisco."