A Few Months or As Much As a Year, California Catholic Daily, February 5, 2009

“A Few Months or As Much As a Year”

California Catholic Daily
February 5, 2009

http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=9b724abc-1aac-440a-a0b2-9f7eef9035eb

Interim administrator for Oakland diocese once allowed homosexual marriages, built church with no crucifix or tabernacle

Now that former Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron has been installed as Archbishop of Detroit, Fr. Dan Danielson, a priest who once allowed homosexual marriages at his parish and was instrumental in the construction of a new church in Pleasanton with no tabernacle and no crucifix, has been elected to run the diocese until a new bishop is named by the pope.

“The process to appoint a new Bishop of Oakland will begin soon and is led by the

Vatican’s diplomatic representative in the United States, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi,” said a diocesan statement at the time Bishop Vigneron was named Archbishop of Detroit, where he was installed on Jan. 28.

News of Fr. Danielson’s election was announced in the Feb. 3 diocesan “Administrative Weekly,” which said, “The Diocesan Consulters today announced the election of Fr. Dan Danielson to fill the role of Diocesan Administrator. The administrator leads the day-to-day activities of the Diocese until a new bishop is appointed. Fr. Danielson retired in 2007 as the pastor of the Catholic Community of Pleasanton.”

The Catholic Community of Pleasanton is comprised of St. Augustine Church and St. Elizabeth Seton Church. In 1998, then-Bishop John Cummins expressed displeasure with Fr. Danielson and ordered him to stop talking to the press after it became public knowledge that Fr. Danielson was allowing homosexual marriages at St. Elizabeth Seton. An attempted lesbian wedding on May 9, 1998 was called off when 50 Catholics came out to the partially built church in a protest that was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and on San Francisco's Channel 7 News. At the time, Fr. Danielson bragged he would continue blessing gay unions outside of the church building.

Two years later, when St. Elizabeth Seton parish completed a 15-year-long, $5 million project to construct a new church, Fr. Danielson again came under fire. The new St. Elizabeth Seton church had no tabernacle (the tabernacle was housed in a separate building), no crucifix, no stations of the cross, and no kneelers. In addition, there were no stained glass windows or statues. Chairs were arranged in an oval, looking down on a simple wooden table that was used as the altar. The 8-foot-long, waist-deep, full immersion, baptismal bath came complete with bright blue tiles and Jacuzzi jets.

At his first Mass at the new church, Fr. Danielson, who referred to his parish as "the Catholic community (not church) of Pleasanton," told the congregation: "There is no sanctuary because this is all holy ground now. This is not a church but a gathering space." He said there was no Christ on the cross because in a circular worship space some people would have had to look at the back of the figure of Christ so it was better just to have a plain, wooden cross. He said there was no room for kneelers.

More recently, in November 2007, Fr. Danielson defended the selection of Fr. Padraig Greene to replace him as pastor at the Catholic Community of Pleasanton. Fr. Greene was arrested in 1999 for lewd behavior in a public restroom. In the online bulletin of the two-parish community, under the heading “Notes from the pastor for this week,” Fr. Danielson said that public protests outside the parish required him to reveal what Greene did in 1999. “I would not do this ordinarily any more than I would ‘out’ the sins of anyone else who had a position of leadership in this community,” said Danielson. At 2 p.m. on March 2, 1999, police arrested Greene “at a restroom next to a highway for indecent exposure,” continued Danielson. “There is a baseball field nearby. There were no children or minors involved, nor were there any nearby at the time. Only the police officer who observed this behavior and subsequently arrested him was present.” The court dismissed charges against Greene when he completed therapy. “As you can imagine,” wrote Danielson, “Fr. Padraig was and is filled with shame and great remorse over this incident.”

Fr. Greene continues to serve as “parochial administrator” of the parish.

“It is with surprise and hope that I take on the task of Diocesan Administrator for the Diocese of Oakland while we prayerfully await a new bishop to be appointed,” said Fr. Danielson in a prepared statement published in the “Administrative Weekly.” "This interim period could last a few months or as much as a year. We do not know. In the meantime, I will do my best to keep flourishing the wonderful ministries that are active in this Diocese.

“This is all new to me so I count very much on your prayerful support and your honest feedback. It is not part of my job description to begin any new initiatives in the diocese. Those new directions and developments will have to await the appointment of our new bishop. However, during this interim period, please let me know how I can help you and support you in your ministry. Together we can keep our wonderful diocese functioning smoothly and be able to present to our new bishop, when he comes, a well-managed home.”