A former San Francisco archbishop and one of the highest-ranking American officials of the Roman Catholic Church has been arrested in Hawaii on suspicion of drunken driving.
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It also quoted an unnamed police spokeswoman as saying Levada was pulled over after a Kona patrol officer saw his vehicle swerve while he was driving northbound on Queen Kaahumanu Highway north of Kealakehe Parkway. He was charged with a DUI then released about an hour later after posting the $500 bail.
In a statement, Levada admitted to an error in judgement and said he’d cooperate with police. “I intend to continue fully cooperating with the authorities”.
He previously served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, from 1995 to 2005. He has a court date of September 24 and is required to appear.
In an e-mail to the Huffington Post, Brown said “punishment is not a factor”. “Where a lapse in judgment occurred, the matter would probably be considered less serious. This would be true at all employee levels”. In 2006 he was named a cardinal.
Catholic cardinals, traditionally seen as “princes of the church”, are appointed by the pope and are second to him in terms of church hierarchy.
Until he retired in 2012, Levada was cardinal-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position he was awarded by Joseph Ratzinger in 2005 after Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI.
A year later, Levada was made a cardinal.
Levada is now Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and an Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco.
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According to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 79-year-old Levada was stopped at about midnight Thursday after an officer reported that he was driving erratically in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii.
