John Charles Dunne (born October 30, 1937) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Dunn served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the

Diocese of Rockville Centre The Diocese of Rockville Centre () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the Long Island region of New York State in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the me ...

in New York from 1988 until 2013.

Biography

Early life

John Dunne was born on October 30, 1937, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, to Mark and Helen Dunne. His only brother, Mark J. Dunne, was a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Dunn attended the

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

of St. Boniface Parish in

Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead, New York, Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough ...

and then went to St. Francis Preparatory School in Brooklyn. He went to Cathedral College in Brooklyn before entering the

Seminary of the Immaculate Conception The Seminary of the Immaculate Conception was a Catholic seminary in Lloyd Harbor, New York, accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, and serving the Diocese of Rockville Centre. It offered a number o ...

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

Priesthood

Dunn was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rockville Centre by Bishop Walter Philip Kellenberg on June 1, 1963. Dunne served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in

East Northport, New York East Northport is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. Th ...

, and was later named associate director of the

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) is an association established in Rome in 1562 for the purpose of providing religious education. In modern usage, it refers to the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., which owns the copyright on t ...

and of the Family Life Bureau. In 1970, he became

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...

of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, where he remained until he was appointed associate

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

for

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

. In 1974, Dunn was named a curate at Corpus Christi Parish in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the county seat of Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 20,800 at the time of the 2020 United Stat ...

, and in 1978 director of the Priest Personnel Office. In 1984, Dunn was appointed

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of Blessed Sacrament Parish in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 40,634 at the tim ...

Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre

On October 21, 1988, Dunne was appointed as an

of Rockville Centre and titular bishop of

Abercorn Abercorn ( Gaelic: ''Obar Chùirnidh'', Old English: ''Æbbercurnig'') is a village and civil parish in West Lothian, Scotland. Close to the south coast of the Firth of Forth, the village is around west of South Queensferry. The parish had a ...

ia by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. He was consecrated on December 13, 1988, by Bishop John McGann, with Bishops James Daly and Alfred Markiewicz serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. Dunn selected as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

: ''"God Is Love"'' from 1 John 4:16. As a member of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

, Dunne served as chair of the Bishops' Committee on Science and Human Values and of the Committee on Women in Society and in the Church. On June 22, 2013,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Dunn's letter of resignation as auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre.

References

External links

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Official Site

Episcopal succession

} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, John Charles 1937 births Living people Religious leaders from Brooklyn 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States People from East Northport, New York Catholics from New York (state) 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States