Early life and education John Cummins was born on March 3, 1928, in
Berkeley, California, to Michael and Mary (née Connolly) Cummins, Irish immigrants. His brother Bernard Cummins was a priest who served as
superintendent of schools in the
Archdiocese of San Francisco. Cummins received his primary education at St. Augustine Parish School in
Oakland. In 1941, he began his studies for the priesthood at St. Joseph's College Seminary in
Mountain View, California, where he earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947 Cummins' first assignment was as a
curate at
Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco, where he remained for four years. In 1957, Cummins started teaching at
Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, staying there until 1962, when he became
chancellor of the Diocese of Oakland. Cummins served as chairman of the USCCB Liturgy Committee (1981–84), the Laity Committee (1988–91), and the Migration and Refugee Services Committee (1995–98). On April 4, 2004, Cummins testified for the
plaintiffs in a
sexual abuse lawsuit against the Diocese of Oakland. The plaintiffs were two brothers, Bob and Tom Thatcher, who charged that Reverend Robert Ponciroli, a pastor at St. Ignatius Parish in
Antioch, California, molested them when they were minors in the early 1980s. Cummins said that he learned about allegations against Ponciroli in 1995, but did not notify police or try to find the victims. Cummins apologized for his failure to search for the victims. In 2016, Cummins published the book
Vatican II, Berkeley and Beyond, a collection of reflections on the
Vatican II Council and its effects on the church. Cummins died in Oakland on December 3, 2024, at the age of 96. ==See also==