Together with his sister, Bruno was raised as a Roman Catholic in Los Angeles and attended local city schools.

He was also briefly a professional football player under contract to the Denver Broncos before an injury sustained early on prevented further activity with the team.

As pastor of this congregation, Bruno continued his advocacy for youth and families, for gang diversion, and for immigration equity, and worked in the wider sphere of human rights.

He served for eight years as Provost of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, Los Angeles and as pastor to its multilingual congregation of St. Athanasius, which dates from 1864 as the oldest Episcopal parish in southern California.

He was vice-chair of the Nehemiah West Housing Corporation, which has built 300 single-family dwellings for purchase by low- and moderate-income families.

As bishop, Bruno has launched the "Hands in Healing" initiative for education and action related to eradicating violence in local, regional, national, and international contexts.

On May 17, 2015, Bruno announced to parishioners of St. James the Great, Newport Beach, that he had sold the church for $15 million to Legacy Partners Residential Development to be re-developed into 22 luxury townhomes.

[6] On June 29, 2015, representatives of the Diocese of Los Angeles changed the locks of St. James the Great, Newport Beach, so that parishioners could no longer access the church.

Primary financial support for the Chefs Center is provided by the Henry T. Nicholas III Foundation, which has contributed $1,350,000 to the incubator.

[citation needed] Bruno, in collaboration with the Reverend Bryan Jones of Long Beach, published a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times's "California" section, on July 23, 2006.