WASHINGTON (January 10, 2003) -- "Pope John Paul II has named Auxiliary Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit as Coadjutor Bishop of Oakland, California. Bishop John S. Cummins is the current Bishop of Oakland.

A Coadjutor Bishop becomes head of the diocese upon the death or retirement of the incumbent bishop.

Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment.

Allen H. Vigneron was born October 21, 1948, in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, July 26, 1975, he earned an S.T.L. degree at the Gregorian University in Rome in 1977, and a Ph.D. at the Catholic University of America in 1988. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Saulte Sainte Marie and auxiliary bishop of Detroit on June 12, 1996.

John S. Cummins was born in Oakland, March 3, 1928. He studied at St. Patrick"s Seminary, Menlo Park, California, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco on January 24, 1953. Bishop Cummins was named Titular Bishop of Lambaesis and Auxiliary Bishop of Sacramento February 12, 1974, and appointed Bishop of Oakland May 3, 1977.

Established in 1962, the Diocese of Oakland comprises two counties"Alameda and Contra Costa"in the State of California. It has a Catholic population of over 428,000 in a total population of about 2.3 million.

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