Cardinal Levada's views generally reflected the conservative wing of the Catholic Church.
Opposition to abortion In March 1995, Pope John Paul II said that the Church's teachings against abortion and
euthanasia were specific moral norms which the Church's ordinary and universal
Magisterium had protected with infallibility. Two months later, Levada publicly reiterated this and singled out Catholic politicians who legislated to allow abortion: "The individual politician, like any Catholic, who is at odds with the teaching of the Church about the principle involved, i.e., that abortion constitutes the killing of innocent human life and is always gravely immoral has an obligation to reflect more deeply on the issue, in the hope of allowing the persuasive character of this infallibly taught teaching to become part of his belief and value system." In 2004 he wrote: "A Catholic, to be in full communion with the faith of the Church, must accept this teaching about the evil of abortion and euthanasia. This reflects the Church's official teaching on the matter."
Opposition to LGBT rights In 1997, the City of San Francisco passed a law that all companies must provide the same benefits for domestic partners as for their spouses in attempt to extend rights to gay couples and common law heterosexual relationships. Levada objected that this violated Catholic teaching on the unique status of marriage, and circumvented the provisions by stating that unmarried employees of the archdiocese could designate
any person sharing the same address as their beneficiary – which meant complying with the statute while in Levada's view avoiding a privileged status for unmarried domestic partnerships. Levada led a march of approximately 1,000 people through the streets of
San Francisco in April 2005 to protest against
same sex marriage. He argued that only a marriage between a man and a woman can create the "bedrock of the family". Anything else "represents a misguided understanding of marriage". In 2006, Levada stated that the Archdiocese of San Francisco should more carefully avoid allowing gay couples to
adopt children locally. The
San Francisco Board of Supervisors reacted with a unanimous resolution highlighting the discriminatory approach, stating that Levada was "a decidedly unqualified representative of his former home city, and of the people of San Francisco and the values they hold dear”.
Opposition to gender-inclusive language Levada was one of six bishops given responsibility in 1987 for editing the text of an updated version of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. He opposed the draft of an English translation made available in 1993, objecting to its preference for
gender-inclusive language. Levada's views prevailed and the version published in 1994 maintained the traditional gendered expressions of earlier catechisms.
Norms of moral law In his doctoral dissertation of 1970 in which Levada treated the question of the infallibility of specific moral norms of the natural law, he wrote: The human process of formulating moral norms is marked by an essential dependence upon the data of human experience. ...The variabilities which marked the human process of its discovery and formulation made such particular applications inherently unsuited to be considered for infallible definition. ...For such formulations must remain essentially open to modification and reformulation based upon moral values as they are perceived in relation to the data and the experience which mark man's understanding of himself. ...Even though there is nothing to prevent a council or a pope from extending [infallibility] to questions of the natural moral law from the point of view of their authority to do so, nevertheless the "prudential" certitude which characterizes the non-scriptural norms of the natural law argues against such an extension. ...The Church has never in fact made an infallible declaration about a particular norm of the natural moral law.
Liturgical music While serving as Archbishop of Portland (Oregon) from 1986 to 1995, he was, ex officio, the chair of the board of directors for OCP (formerly known as
Oregon Catholic Press).
Interfaith dialogue Levada spoke in favor of
interfaith dialogue. According to rabbi
David Rosen, Levada made it clear that there was intrinsic value in conducting interfaith dialogue with
Jews even without any ulterior motives of proselytizing. He also made a clear distinction between "witnessing," or sharing the
New Testament, and proselytizing, which he thought wrong. In a 2002 address to the University of San Francisco, Levada said: "If both Islam and Christianity view themselves as universal and missionary, it does not mean an impasse but an opportunity to search further into the mystery of that faith to see how it resonates and relates to the other's faith."
Tridentine Mass In 1999, some
Traditionalist Catholics complained about Levada's refusal to grant the
indult for
Tridentine Masses to be celebrated publicly in his archdiocese; they said that this was against Pope John Paul II's
motu proprio Ecclesia Dei. ==Retirement and death==