CURRENT ISSUE:  March 6, 2006VOL. 44, NO. 5Oakland, CA

Diocesan apology service, March 28

By Voice staff

Bishop Allen Vigneron will preside at an apology service for survivors of clergy sexual abuse on March 28 at St. Raymond church, Dublin, in an effort to reach victims who did not attend one of the 20 apology ceremonies held throughout the diocese over the past two years.

Previous services were held at parishes for survivors who suffered abuse at those specific sites. The March 28 apology service is aimed especially at those survivors who were not ready to come forward until recently or who did not fit into a local parish setting, such as victims from other dioceses or from Bishop O’Dowd, De La Salle, Moreau, St. Joseph Notre Dame, St. Mary’s or Salesian high schools, where abuse also occurred.

All clergy abuse victims, their family members and others affected by the abuse are welcome at the ceremony, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. St. Raymond Church is located at 11555 Shannon Ave. in Dublin.

Four survivors of clergy abuse were involved in planning the service, which will be held six years after Bishop John Cummins held an apology service on March 25, 2000, for all survivors of clergy abuse in the diocese.

The Diocese of Oakland continues to reach out to survivors of abuse through its ministry group, which oversees ways to help victims through advocacy and support, and a survivors’ group, which meets monthly with a professional facilitator.

For information about the ministry or support group, send email to: survivors@oakdiocese.orgor call Sister Barbara Flannery at (510) 267-8330 or Mercedes Corral at (510) 267-8306.

Bishop Allen Vigneron

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