SAN FRANCISCO — He swore to uphold the laws of a state that four years ago voted overwhelmingly to define marriage as between one man and one woman. He is also Catholic.

But that didn't stop San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from having his city issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples — a move that evoked strong reactions from around the country.

While homosexuals have flocked to San Francisco to “marry,” Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco joined countless citizens intent on blocking Newsom's actions.

Two days after the Feb. 10 announcement that the city would issue marriage certificates to homosexual couples, Archbishop Levada, who has called for a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, stated: “While the Catholic Church affirms that God created marriage as the union of a man and a woman, giving them a co-responsibility to establish a family by bringing children into the world, this tenet is not solely a Catholic one. Rather, it is the result of natural reason mirrored in every culture throughout humankind's history.”

Newsom's press office did not return calls seeking clarification on his stand as it relates to his Catholic faith. But Maurice Healy, communications director for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said the archdiocese has made it clear that Newsom's actions are not what is expected of a Catholic politician.

A significant portion of a recent issue of Catholic San Francisco, the diocesan newspaper, was devoted to diocesan and Vatican statements on what is expected.

Last year the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made it clear: “All Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions,” it said. “Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians.”

The Congregation added that respect for homosexuals must not be construed as sanctioning homosexual marriage.

Healy said the archdiocese is seeking to dialogue with Newsom to bring him back to the Catholic perspective.

“Excommunication is not the first step,” he said. “Dialogue might be the first step to bring someone back into the fold.”

-Andrew Walther