Allen Vigneron was born on Oct. 21, 1948, in Mount Clemens, Michigan. He earned a licentiate in theology 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 auxiliary bishop of Detroit on June 12, 1996, he was ordained a bishop the following July 9. He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Oakland last Jan. 10 and installed Feb. 26.
John Cummins had been appointed bishop of Oakland in May 1977. The diocese comprises Alameda and Contra Costa counties in Northern California. It has a Catholic population of 432,890 in a total population of 2.43 million.
