BISHOP PIERRE DUMAINE
June 25, 2019 | The Valley Catholic
Most Reverend R. Pierre DuMaine
Born - August 2, 1931
Ordained a Priest - June 15, 1957
Ordained a Bishop - June 29, 1978
Born to Eternal Life - June 13, 2019
Roland Pierre DuMaine, son of
Nolan Amidee DuMaine and Mary
Eulalia Burch, was born in Paducah,
Kentucky on August 2, 1931.
After attending Saint Mary’s Acad-
emy in Paducah and Holy Family
School in Glendale, California, he en-
tered Saint Joseph’s College Seminary,
Mountain View, and Saint Patrick’s
Seminary in Menlo Park.
Ordained a priest for the Archdio-
cese of San Francisco on June 15, 1957,
Father DuMaine served as assistant
pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary
Parish in Belmont before he was as-
signed to graduate studies at the
Catholic University of America, from
1958-1961. After receiving a doctoral
degree in Education, he served on the
faculty of Catholic University and
Serra High School in San Mateo, was
Archdiocesan Assistant Superinten-
dent of Schools and Superintendent
from 1965 until 1978, having been
named a Prelate of Honor of his Holi-
ness (Monsignor) in 1972.
Bishop DuMaine was ordained
Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco on
June 29, 1978, serving in that capacity
until March 18, 1981, when he became
the Founding Bishop of the Diocese of
San Jose.
Amidst great difficulties, Bishop
DuMaine succeeded in the largest
privately funded renewal project of
downtown San Jose: the restoration
of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Jo-
seph. These efforts insured that the
Cathedral Basilica survived the 1989
earthquake and became what it is
to this very day: the crown jewel of
downtown San Jose.
On November 27, 1999, the Holy
See accepted the bishop’s request
for retirement. After retirement, he
served as visiting professor at both
Santa Clara University and Stanford
University.
Bishop DuMaine will long be re-
membered for his dedication to the
teachings and principles put forth by
the Second Vatican Council. Among
these were the call to holiness that
Bishop Pierre DuMaine, first and founding
Bishop of San Jose.
is extended to all the baptized, the
inclusion of lay and religious women
and men in decision-making positions
within the Church, and a commitment
to Catholic Education and Formation
in all of its forms.
A visionary who recognized the
significant role of technology in social
communications and the Church’s
mission of evangelization, Bishop
DuMai ne ser ved as c hair of t he
United States Bishops’ Committee
on Communications, as a member of
the Pontifical Commission on Social
Communications, and as a direc-
tor and longtime supporter of the
Catholic Television Network (CTN), a
closed-circuit network serving Catho-
lic schools in the Archdiocese of San
Francisco and the dioceses of San Jose
and Oakland.
He was a man of great intelligence
and wit and will long be missed by his
many friends and collaborators
The Funeral Mass will be celebrated
at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Jo-
seph in San Jose on Thursday, June
27, at 10 a.m.
Donations in Bishop DuMaine’s
memory may be made to the Priests’
Retirement Fund or the Catholic
School Scholarship Fund, both in
care of The Diocese of San Jose, 1150
North First Street, Suite 100, San Jose,
CA 95112.
From the Archives...
(Editor’s note: In the June 20, 2017
issue of The Valley Catholic the Dio-
cese ran a story celebrating the 60 th
Anniversary of Bishop DuMaine’s
Ordination to the Priesthood. Here is
a reprint of that story).
In a recent conversation covering
the wide range of the six decades
since his ordination as a priest, Bishop
Pierre DuMaine reminisced about the
origins of his vocation, the exhilara-
tion of the Second Vatican Council, his
appointment as first Bishop of San Jose
and the establishing of the Diocese.
Bishop DuMaine attributes his
vocation to the positive influence of
priests he had known prior to his en-
trance into the seminary at the age of
14 and during his years of formation.
Among these, was long-time pastor of
Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in
Belmont, Father John J. Kenny.
The bishop was in Washington,
D.C., studying at the Catholic Uni-
versity of America, during the years
of the Second Vatican Council. He
welcomed the changes introduced
by the Council, particularly the litur-
gical reforms. According to Bishop
DuMaine, the foundation of the new
Diocese of San Jose was a wonder-
ful opportunity, the theology of the
Council taking flesh in the nascent
Diocese. Key among the guiding
principals were the active role of the
laity and religious women, and a per-
meating spirit of collaboration.
On the occasion of the 15 th An-
niversary of the Diocese of San Jose
(March 1996), Bishop DuMaine wrote
in The Valley Catholic about “I like what
I see” and “What I would like to see”
in the Diocese:
I like what I see – and have found
support for my own faith and min-
istry – in the vitality of Catholic life
across the spectrum of language and
culture, economic and social condi-
tion, among priests and lay minister,
and among all the faithful, especially
the leaders and volunteers in every
parish and Catholic enterprise.
I would like to see this vitality fo-
cused and driven by a clearer sense
of Catholic identity
and Catholic solidarity that will
achieve a greater Catholic unity
within each parish, within our dio-
cese, and with the universal Church.
By Catholic solidarity, I mean a
livelier sense of kinship with all other
Catholics, an active caring about their
welfare and concerns, a more under-
standing tolerance for legitimate dif-
ference in how we hold and express
our faith, a more unified voice when
we bring Catholic principles to bear
on public issues of justice and eth-
ics. This, of course, rests on Catholic
identity, which could be summarized
as “The Mass, the Pope, and Mary...
By “Mass,” I mean not only the
presence of Jesus Christ in the Eu-
charist by in the entire treasure of the
sacraments that is uniquely Catholic.
I use “Pope” as shorthand for the
Catholic understanding of “one, holy,
catholic and apostolic church” that
we proclaim in the ancient creeds.
“Mary” I see as the supreme example
of the “communion of the saints” that
we profess in the same creeds...
Over the past 15 years I have of-
ten been asked for a “vision” or goal
for our diocese and have generally
responded: “to keep the family to-
gether.”
And so he did, so we are, and for
that we are eternally grateful.