SAN FRANCISCO – Amid heavy security and the splendor of his faith’s most sacred rites, the new Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco assumed office Thursday without referring to the distress his appointment has aroused in this gay-friendly city, but offering self-deprecating jokes about his recent drunken-driving arrest.

In front of an audience of more than 2,000 invited guests at his installation Mass, Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone acknowledged the Aug. 25 arrest in San Diego.

“I know in my life God has always had a way of putting me in my place. I would say, though, that in the latest episode of my life God has outdone himself,” Cordileone said.

U-T San Diego reported that Cordileone was fined and placed on three years’ probation. The newspaper said court records show his blood-alcohol level was 0.11 percent within three hours of the stop, above California’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.

As Cordileone spoke during Thursday’s Mass, about three dozen gay rights advocates gathered outside St. Mary’s Cathedral to protest his induction.

Cordileone has a nationwide reputation as a fierce defender of the Catholic Church’s positions on homosexuality in general and same-sex marriage in particular.

New policies for Secret Service

The Secret Service has formally adopted new policies on the use of alcohol and social media, banning excessive drinking and the sharing of work-related information on sites including Facebook five months after more than a dozen employees were accused of drunken partying with prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia.

The written policies, obtained by the Washington Post, make clear what Secret Service leaders say were always part of the unwritten code of conduct.

Gehrig’s health records sought

Some Minnesota lawmakers are looking to force the release of baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig’s medical records, saying they might provide insight into whether the Yankees’ star died of the disease that now bears his name or from repetitive head trauma.

Their effort comes despite opposition from Mayo Clinic, which holds the records, and skepticism from experts that the records would prove anything.

Author Irving Adler, 99, dies

Irving Adler, a teacher who wrote more than 85 books, most of them for children, about the scientific wonders of life on Earth and the cosmos beyond, died Sept. 22 at a hospital in Bennington, Vt. He was 99.

He had complications from a stroke, daughter Peggy Adler said.

Ship honors NYC hero

The U.S. Navy’s newest vessel – the USS Michael Murphy, a 510-foot destroyer – is being commissioned this weekend in New York City.

The ship is being named for a 29-year-old Long Island native and Navy lieutenant who became the first American awarded the Medal of Honor during the Afghanistan War when he was killed along with two fellow SEALs during an ambush in 2005.