Benedict XVI appoints Fr. William Justice auxiliary bishop for San Francisco

San Francisco, Calif., Apr 10, 2008 / 06:39 am

The Holy Father has appointed William J. Justice, who is a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as an auxiliary bishop for Archbishop George Niederauer.

In a statement issued this morning, Archbishop Niederauer said, “On behalf of Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang, and the priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, I gratefully thank our Holy Father for this appointment, and I congratulate our new Bishop-elect William Justice and assure him of our prayers
and support for his ministry among us as Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco.”

Bishop-elect Justice was born on 8 May 1942. He received a Master of Arts in Philosophy and a Master of Divinity at Saint Patrick Seminary.

On May 17, 1968 he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and then went on to obtain a Masters in Applied Spirituality at the University of San Francisco.

Archbishop Niederauer spoke about the qualities of Bishop-elect Justice saying he brings his “pastoral experience, generous heart and wise judgment for which he is known among the clergy, religious and laity of the Archdiocese.”  He also noted that Bishop-elect Justice’s fluency in Spanish, which he learned in Guadalajara, Mexico will be a “particularly fruitful resource for his new apostolic ministry.”

Fr. Justice will be ordained a bishop on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. in St. Mary’s Cathedral.