The legacy of Bishop Cummins

By Christine Schreck

Bishop John S. Cummins was involved in the Diocese of Oakland from its founding. He was appointed to be the first chancellor by Bishop Floyd L. Begin in January 1963, in his tenth year as a priest. That fall, he had the opportunity to attend the second session of the Second Vatican Council as secretary and adviser to Bishop Begin.

In his memoir, Bishop Cummins described his experience in Rome as “a striking learning opportunity.”

According to historian Jeff Burns, a former archivist for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and a deacon at St. Mary Magdalen in Berkeley, Bishop Begin embraced the decrees of the Counci. As his successor, Bishop Cummins exemplified this new style of authority throughout his 26 years as bishop.

“Bishop Cummins always valued the individual person and took great personal care of the people,” Burns said. “He was doing synod before it became the major undertaking we’ve had for the past couple of years.”

That progressive spirit included acknowledging the contributions of women to ministry and encouraged the clergy to consider women for leadership roles. He appointed a number of women to significant roles in the diocese in the early 1980s, including Dominican Sister Rose Marie Hennessy as superintendent of Catholic schools.  “I was inspired and I grew as a woman in the Church,” Sister Hennessy said of her working relationship with Bishop Cummins.

Cummins Institute

Founded in 2002, the Bishop John S. Cummins Institute for Thought, Culture and Action at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga invites students, faculty, staff and administrators to participate in round-table discussions about the connection between Catholic tradition and the current state of the world.

Bishop Cummins was actively involved from its creation. “Bishop John was the most regular member of the Cummins Institute, attending every meeting and even by Zoom when he first went to the Mercy Center. At the meetings he made special connections with the student members of the Institute and inspired a new generation of Catholics with the visions of the Second Vatican Council regarding the consultation of the faithful and the priesthood of the laity,” said De La Salle Brother Charles Hilken, a professor of history and the director of the institute.

When Bishop Cummins moved out of his long-time residence, he donated his personal papers to the institute. The college’s archivist and a student webmaster have spent the past two years digitizing the files, soon to be universally available on the college website.

Brother Hilken notes that a Jesuit in Mexico is currently using the papers for a project with the help of the archivist. “[Bishop Cummins’] legacy will continue through the work of researchers but most especially by the lives he touched through his long years of pastoral leadership,” he said.

Cummins collection at Queen of the Holy Rosary Library

Bishop Cummins also gifted a portion of his personal library, 365 titles, to the Queen of the Holy Rosary Library at the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.

On four separate occasions, Dominican Sister Mary Catherine Antczak traveled to Bishop Cummins’ home and helped him sort through the bookcases on both floors of his home. She called it a priceless experience. “As Bishop John picked up a book, he frequently shared with me insights about the content and the author, including details about events where he met the author. It became apparent to me that Bishop John’s books are his friends. He knows them by name, he knows their thoughts, and he enjoys being with them,” she said.

Many of the books contained personal inscriptions to Bishop Cummins from their authors. As she catalogued the books, the sisters’ librarian, Mary Ellen Parker, typed up a list of the compiled inscriptions.

She noted that there were slips of paper, with the bishop’s notes written on them in many of the books. Parker uncovered holy cards, postcards and boarding passes used as bookmarks. One book included notes from 1944 in which then-16-year-old John Cummins wrote, “books are a source of knowledge. Like people, books may be likeable or unlikeable, books are companions in times of leisure.”

The library is open on weekdays from 9 a.m. - noon and 1 – 4 p.m. at 43326 Mission Circle, Fremont.

Resources to learn more:

We are the Church: A History of the Diocese of Oakland by Jeffrey M. Burns and Carmen Batiza.

Vatican II, Berkeley and Beyond: The First Half-Century of the Oakland Diocese 1962-2012, A Bishop’s Memoir by John S. Cummins.