Newly Ordained Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco Padre Alum ...

"Once a Padre, Always a Padre"
22
Serra Students Celebrate the Ordination of
Fellow Padre ~ Bishop William J. Justice '60
It is with a tremendous sense of pride and
joy that our Serra community celebrates
the ordination of Padre alum Fr. William
J. Justice ‘60 as Titular Bishop of Matara de
Proconsolare and Auxilary Bishop of San
Francisco.
Nearly two dozen bishops, more than 300
priests and deacons, and a standing-room only
cathedral, including faculty and staff members from Serra and
several young Padres (who were asked to play a role in the
ceremony) attended Bishop Justice’s ordination held on May
28th at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. Bishop Justice
is San Francisco’s 16th auxiliary bishop and was challenged to
“respond in loving service to his sisters and brothers in Christ”
and model himself after the Apostle St. Peter.
Bishop Justice has served as a priest in the San Francisco
Archdiocese since his ordination in 1968. He was assigned as
Parochial Vicar in St. John the Evangelist, All Souls and St. Paul
Parishes. In 1979, he was appointed Director of the Office for the
Permanent Diaconate, and in 1981 began to serve as Secretary
of Pastoral Ministry at the Chancery. Bishop Justice was Pastor
of St. Peter Parish from 1985-1991, All Souls Parish from 1991-
2003, and Mission Dolores Parish from 2003-2007. In March
2007, he was appointed Vicar for Clergy for the Archdiocese, to
succeed Bishop John Wester, whom Pope Benedict XVI appointed
as Bishop of Salt Lake City.
Bishop Justice was born on May 8, 1942 in Lawrence,
Massachusetts, and moved with his family to San Mateo in 1946.
He attended grammar school at both St. Matthew and St. Gregory
Parish. Upon graduating from Serra in 1960, he entered the
seminary, first at St. Joseph College in Mountain View, and later
St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park. Bishop Justice has a Master of
Divinity degree from St. Patrick Seminary and a Master’s degree
in Applied Spirituality from the University of San Francsco.
In his address to the congregation, Bishop Justice spoke about his
strong roots in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“This is my home; this is your home,” Bishop Justice repeated
numerous times, reflecting on having lived in the Archdiocese 62
of his 66 years. He pledged to “have a heart ever open to Jesus”
so that he can “share them with us.”
At the reception following his ordination, Bishop Justice spent a
few moments celebrating with Padres and posing for the camera
in a semi “Padre Whisper.”
Excerpts taken from the June 13th issue of Catholic San Francisco