Background
John Rudin was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to John Jay and Mary A. (Kelley) Rudin.
John Rudin was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to John Jay and Mary A. (Kelley) Rudin.
He was educated in the local public schools in Pittsfield. He studied for the priesthood at Maryknoll Apostolic College and was ordained a priest at the Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining, New York on June 11, 1944.
He served as the Bishop of Musoma from 1957-1979. After his ordination, Rudin earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, District of Columbia He also served as the seminary"s Vice-Rector for three years. He was appointed as the Society"s Superior for Africa in 1956.
On July 5, 1957 Pope Pius XII appointed him as the first bishop of the Diocese of Musoma.
John Rudin was consecrated a bishop in an open-air liturgy on October 3, 1957 by Bishop Joseph Blomjous, M. African. of Mwanza. The principal co-consecrators were Bishop Edward McGurkin, M.M. of Shinyanga and Auxiliary Bishop Maurice Otunga of Kisumu.
Rudin attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. During the Council he served on the committee working for greater unity between the Churches of East and West Africa.
In 1976 he believed the diocese was firmly established and a missionary bishop was no longer needed.
His resignation was not accepted, however, and he continued to serve the diocese, until his resignation was finally accepted by Pope John Paul II on January 12, 1979. He moved to the Saint Teresa Residence in Ossining where he remained until his death. He died on June 14, 1995 at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Tarrytown, New York at the age of 78.
His funeral Mass was celebrated in the Queen of Apostles Chapel on June 20, 1995.
He was buried in the Maryknoll Center Cemetery.