Catholics played a pivotal role in Prop. 8 success

Catholics played a pivotal role in the

success of Proposition 8 — the ballot measure that bans same-sex marriage — from

pulpits down to the pews. Bishops lobbied for its passage, priests preached

about it, and lay people overwhelmingly voted for it.Yet not all have

been joyful in Bay Area parishes.

The Bay Area has a large and vibrant

gay Catholic community, and they have many allies among straight Catholics. So

it has led some to question how the region's dioceses, which include myriad

diverse groups, could be opposed to what many view as secular rights.

"It makes me very, very, very disenchanted with the Archdiocese (of San

Francisco) as an institution," said Kevin Sullivan, 50, who said the archdiocese

brought him back to the faith of his childhood. "It's very frustrating to be a

gay Catholic and to have to apologize to everyone I know about Proposition

8."

The demographics of the Bay Area are not so unlike those of other

urban dioceses around the nation — their politics lean much further left than the

church's teaching. But the recent election has brought that tension to the fore

over issues that reach beyond Prop. 8.In September, House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a Catholic, was rebuked by bishops around the nation for

saying the church hasn't always preached that life begins at conception; the

bishops said that has always been the belief. And the Bay Area, which has a

number of gay-friendly parishes, as a whole voted against Prop. 8 despite the

position of area bishops.For many Catholics who voted no on the

measure, it was particularly painful that San Francisco Archbishop George