William J. Justice

William J. Justice was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on May 8, 1942. His family moved to San Mateo, California in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1946. He attended St. Matthew Elementary in San Mateo (1948–51) and graduated from St. Gregory Elementary in San Mateo (1956). He then graduated from Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo (1960).

Justice entered the seminary, first at St. Joseph College, Mountain View, California in 1962 and later St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1968. He then went to earn a Master of Applied Spirituality degree from the University of San Francisco in 1980. Fluent in Spanish, Justice studied the language during the summer of 1969 at Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He took additional instruction at the Intensive Spanish Language Program at Cuernavaca, Morelia, Mexico during the summer of 1971.

Justice was first ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1968 in San Francisco. He was ordained on May 17, 1968 by Archbishop Joseph McGucken, shortly after graduating from St. Patrick Seminary. His first parish assignment shortly after ordination was as parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist, San Francisco (1968–70). He has also been parochial vicar at All Souls Parish, South San Francisco (1970–76) and St. Paul Parish, San Francisco (1976–79). In 1979 he became the Director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate and in 1992 was appointed the Secretary of Pastoral Ministry for the Archdiocese, serving in both roles until 1985. Justice was Pastor of St. Peter Parish (1985–91), All Souls Parish (1991–2003), and Mission Dolores Basilica Parish (2003–2007). In 2007 he became the Archdiocesan Vicar for Clergy.

The following year, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Titular Bishop of Matara de Proconsolari and Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. While he was Episcopal Vicar for Clergy, Justice also served as Vicar General of the Archdiocese. Bishop Justice is a trustee of St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park. He currently chairs three archdiocesan boards, the Priest Personnel Board, the Ongoing Formation Board, and the Priests' Retirement Board. He chaired the Priests' Council from September 2006 to June 2007 and took part in the Alliance of Mission District Catholic Schools while pastor of Mission Dolores Basilica Parish. He was consecrated auxiliary bishop of San Francisco by Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco George Hugh Niederauer on 28 May 2008, 2 PM, at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption.

On November 16, 2017, Pope Francis accepted Bishop Justice's resignation after reaching the retirement age of 75.