Monsignor Daniel Cardelli

Monsignor Antonio Valdivia

By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

It has been more than 30 years since a priest in the Oakland Diocese has been named a monsignor and now two diocesan priests — Father Daniel Cardelli and Father Antonio Valdivia — have been given the honor.

In an e-mail sent Feb. 17 to clergy and chancery leaders, Father Dan Danielson, diocesan administrator, announced that Archbishop Allen Vigneron had petitioned the Holy See for the recognition before he was named to head the Archdiocese of Detroit. Both of the new monsignors are long-time pastors now retired.

Msgr. Cardelli said his first reaction was, “Can I refuse it?” In the next breath he added, “To me, it is a title of honor, but there are a lot of good priests in the diocese who are worthy of being elevated to the rank.”

Msgr. Valdivia also said he was surprised at being singled out for such recognition. “I’m overwhelmed really,” said the normally gregarious priest who was at a loss of words. “It is an honor, recognition of good work. I certainly appreciate that very much.”

“It is a gesture to the large Latino community in the diocese,” he added. “That’s how I look at it.” It also sparked wonder among members of his extended family. “My family is overwhelmed with joy.”

There was also widespread excitement at St. Isidore Parish where Msgr. Cardelli served as pastor for 27 years before he retired in 2005. “The people are very pleased, congratulatory,” said the priest. “I feel humbled by their joy at my being a monsignor. That does humble me. I doubt very much the children in school know what a monsignor is.”

Today, the honorary title of monsignor is given to a diocesan priest by the pope at the request of the local bishop. It is not given to priests in religious orders. The word itself comes from the Italian “monsignore” which means “my lord.”

The title originated in Europe in the late middle ages when the pope was a civil ruler as well as head of the Church, said Bishop Emeritus John Cummins. It has been used as a form of address to persons of “high birth” or noble rank and for members of the clergy in the Catholic Church.

Pope Paul VI introduced a number of changes to the office of monsignor in the late 1960s. Prior to these reforms there were about 14 grades of monsignors, designated by such titles as apostolic protonotaries, papal chamberlains, and papal chaplains, with the protonotaries holding the highest ranking.

Some protonotaries, once considered part of the papal administration or chancery, still have special duties. Now monsignors are largely classed under three ranks, apostolic protonotaries, Honorary Prelates of His Holiness, formerly called domestic prelates, and Chaplains to His Holiness, formerly papal chamberlains.

As Prelates of Honor to His Holiness, both Msgr. Cardelli and Msgr. Valdivia may be addressed as reverend monsignors and are entitled to wear purple-red choir cassocks with surplice for liturgies and the black cassock with red piping and purple sash for other occasions.

During the tenure of Oakland’s first bishop, Bishop Floyd Begin (1962-1977), the title of monsignor was conferred on dozens of priests. In the months following the creation of the Oakland Diocese in January 1962, for example, 11 East Bay priests were named honorary prelates and three were named papal chamberlains. By 1970 the number of monsignors had grown to 33, including two apostolic protonotaries.

Because his successor, Bishop Cummins, did not name any monsignors, the number of monsignors in the Oakland Diocese declined. Before last month’s announcement there were only a four monsignors in the diocese: Msgr. Robert Adams and Msgr. John McCracken, both retired, Msgr. Manuel Simas, pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Fremont and Msgr. Ted Kraus, pastor at Santa Maria Parish in Orinda. Msgr. Kraus was already a monsignor when he came to the Oakland Diocese from the Diocese of Buffalo, New York.

The naming of monsignors fell out of favor in the Oakland Diocese in the late 1970s when the Priests’ Senate raised objections to this method of honoring priests and urged that such honors be bestowed sparingly.

“It was not a popular thing,” said Bishop Cummins, noting that some priests were uneasy with the process and concerned about the questions that would inevitably be raised about why one priest was honored and another wasn’t. “I tried twice (to name monsignors), but I didn’t get the support of the senate. They didn’t think it was right for the time.”

However, no one has raised objections to the two priests who are the diocese’s newest monsignors, said the retired bishop, who commended both priests for their contributions to the diocese.

He noted that prior to the establishment of the Oakland Diocese, Msgr. Cardelli, 78, a native of Fall River, Mass., served in a variety of assignments in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, “not all of them easy.” He is “remembered well” by the people at St. Peter Martyr Parish in Pittsburg and is the subject of great “appreciation and affection” at St. Isidore Parish in Danville. He also gave “great care to priests,” said Bishop Cummins.

Msgr. Cardelli continues to be involved in what he describes as “spiritual work” — chaplain to the Italian Catholic Federation, counseling Catholics going through divorce, and pastoral care to other retired priests.

Msgr. Valdivia, 72, who grew up in West Oakland, exercised “extraordinary leadership” in the Oakland Diocese “starting with the civil rights days of 1960 where his intelligence and language capacity were deeply respected,” Bishop Cummins said.

The priest served as diocesan vicar to the Spanish-speaking for a number of years. “To Bishop Floyd Begin he was home center for the Spanish-speaking community,” Bishop Cummins said, noting that Msgr. Valdivia did missionary work in El Salvador and accompanied him to Rome for the Synod of Bishops of America in 1997.

Before retiring in 2007, Msgr. Valdivia had served as pastor of five parishes, most recently at St. Louis Bertrand Parish in Oakland.

An official ceremony, called an investiture, will be held separately to honor and celebrate each of the new monsignors. Msgr. Valdivia’s investiture will take place on April 26 during the regularly scheduled 2 p.m. Spanish language Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. Msgr. Cardelli will be invested on May 17 at 3 p.m. at St. Isidore Church in Danville. Bishop Cummins will preside at both ceremonies.

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