WASHINGTON (September 26, 2003) -- Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Bishop John S. Cummins of Oakland. Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, who was named Coadjutor Bishop of Oakland last January, will now become Ordinary of the diocese.

Msgr. Leopoldo Girelli, Charg‚ d'Affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature, made the announcement.

Allen H. Vigneron was born October 21, 1948, in Mt. Clemens, MI. He earned the S.T.L. at the Gregorian University, Rome, in 1977, and a Ph.D. at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1988. He was ordained a priest of the Detroit archdiocese on July 26, 1975.

Appointed titular bishop of Sault Sainte Marie and auxiliary bishop of Detroit June 12, 1996, he was ordained a bishop July 9, 1996. He was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Oakland on January 10, 2003, and installed February 26, 2003.

John S. Cummins was born in Oakland, March 3, 1928, and ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco on January 24, 1953. Appointed titular bishop of Lambaesis and auxiliary bishop of Sacramento, Feb. 12, 1974, he was appointed Bishop of Oakland, May 3, 1977.

Established January 13, 1962, the Diocese of Oakland comprises two counties in the State of California, Alameda and Contra Costa. It has a Catholic population of 432,890 in a total population of 2,433,952.

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