Priests retirement luncheon to fete three honorees

Retired Bishop William Justice, right, is one of three honorees at the ninth annual St. John Vianney Luncheon Oct. 11.

Sept. 20, 2019
Annie Powers

Each year, there are two opportunities to help support retired priests in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The first was the special collection Sept. 21-22 in parishes throughout the archdiocese.

The second opportunity approaching is the ninth annual St. John Vianney Luncheon honoring retired priests. The luncheon will be on Oct. 11 starting at 11:30 am, with a social hour starting at 10:30 in Patrons Hall of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

The 2019 honorees are Msgr. Floro Arcamo, Bishop William Justice and Msgr.  John Rodriguez.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Bishop Justice to learn about his history in the archdiocese and why supporting our retired priests is so important. Bishop Justice has been a San Francisco Archdiocesan priest for 51 years and has served in many different capacities: priest, friend, pastor, bishop and civic leader.

Bishop Justice moved to San Mateo at age 4 from Boston with his parents. They were strong Irish Catholics who raised “Billy” to cherish and fully live out his faith. Bishop Justice attended St. Matthew and St. Gregory schools and then Serra High School, where he felt God‘s calling during his senior year. Bishop Justice credits his parents, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Father Jim O’Malley for his inspiration to join the priesthood.

After high school, Bishop Justice answered God’s call and entered St. Joseph’s minor seminary. Two years later he entered St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park and was ordained on May 17, 1968. His first assignment as a priest was at St. John the Evangelist in the outer Mission District of San Francisco. While there, Bishop Justice grew in his early ministry and was also involved with the community at a very key time. He recalls being in community meetings with Cesar Chavez and other influential figures in San Francisco.

After his time at St. John, Bishop Justice was transferred to All Souls Parish in South San Francisco. He remembers enjoying wonderful “Italian home-cooked meals” from generous parishioners during his time there. He continued his ministry at a variety of different parishes, including St. Paul in San Francisco, St. Timothy in San Mateo, St. Kevin in San Francisco, St. Peter in San Francisco (as pastor) and Mission Dolores (as pastor).

He was then brought to the archdiocese to head pastoral ministry and later became the vicar for clergy. He was ordained bishop in 2008 and a good amount of his time in this ministry was presiding over confirmations throughout the area.

After becoming auxiliary bishop, he “retired” in 2017 at the age of 75 and has since been at St. Matthew Parish, back to where he started, serving however he can.

Bishop Justice believes that the most rewarding part of his ministry is to, “Help people grow in their faith with Jesus and be there to walk with people through their journey of life.” He believes that the priest retirement collection and lunch are extremely important because they contribute to the security of those priests who have devoted their lives to walking with us. He believes we need to support one another because we are one family of God.

An unyielding commitment to the faith and the people of God has been the essence of Bishop Justice’s ministry, as it has also been for Msgr. Arcamo, Msgr. Rodriguez and all our retired priests. The Archdiocese of San Francisco is blessed to have such devoted men.

Annie Powers is development and events coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.