FREMONT (CA)
Oakland Tribune
By Grace Rauh, STAFF WRITER
FREMONT — The last time Dan McNevin stood in Corpus Christi Catholic Church, he was a 13-year-old altar boy.
On Monday night he returned, 33 years later, to hear the leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland apologize for the sexual abuses he and others have alleged they suffered under the Rev. James Clark, who served at the church from 1965 to 1984. Clark died in 1989.
"I am trying to move toward forgiveness," McNevin said after the service. "Forgiveness of Father Clark, and a greater understanding of how this happened in this parish and in this diocese."
The emotional service drew about 150 parishioners, who sat in silence as Bishop Allen Vigneron of the Oakland Diocese delivered his apology.
"I beg pardon from all who have been hurt by these acts of abuse," he said. "I apologize for the failure to act on the part of many of the leaders of the Catholic Church."