The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is pleased to announce that Pope John Paul II has appointed The Most Reverend Allen J. Vigneron as Coadjutor Bishop of Oakland. In that capacity he will succeed Bishop John Cummins when he retires later this year at age 75. Bishop Vigneron is coming from Detroit, Michigan, where he has been serving as Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit.

Link to the Diocese of Oakland's Biographical Note about the Most Reverend Allen J. Vigneron.

Also from the Diocese of Oakland's website, a link to the recent "Catholic Voice" article about the Most Reverend Allen J. Vigneron [Adobe pdf file.]

Diocesan Policies on Clergy Sex Abuse
from "The Catholic Voice" - February, 2002

The Diocese of Oakland has specific policies in the area of reported sexual abuse involving clergy or church employees. They include the following:

• The Diocese of Oakland will respond promptly to all allegations of clerical sexual misconduct, even if the complaint is anonymous.
• The first concern of the Diocese is to offer immediate and appropriate care to victims and their families. We will be concerned for their rights, reputation, healing and spiritual welfare.
• In all cases, past and present, when there is a probability of sexual misconduct involving minors, the priest or other Church employee will be placed on administrative leave and the Diocese of Oakland will comply with the obligations of civil law as regards reporting of the incident to legal authorities and cooperating with the investigation.
• The Diocese of Oakland values open communication and dialogue with the community concerning clerical sexual abuse within the confines of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved.
• The Diocese promises to give priests that sexually abuse appropriate treatment, psychological evaluations and recommendations for therapy. We will follow their progress in order that the Church does not push their problem onto the rest of society. The priest is expected to take the prescribed therapy.
• A priest who has engaged in sexual misconduct with a child will not be returned to a ministry where there is contact with children.

An article in a recent publication of the Sisters of Holy Names paid tribute to Christ the King's Director of Religious Education, Sister Maureen Viani. The text of the article follows:

"Her co-workers say it isn't often that you go to work to "have fun." But that's how they describe the current ministry of Sister Maureen Viani (Sister Maureen Anthony) and her "team" of over 225 volunteers. Their ministry of Faith Formation at Christ the King Parish in Pleasant Hill touches the lives of over 1200 children and their families from the ages of three years through junior high. At the center of this ministry is Sister Maureen, who, for ten years, has been responsible for selecting all the volunteers needed to make this large program work. She is also responsible for children's liturgies, Children's Liturgy of the Word, the organization and preparation of workshops for both catechists and families, and for the sacramental program for the children in Faith Formation and in the parish school. Aside from her administrative duties, she is re-energized when teaching and being with the children. Presently, she is teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth graders who are preparing for the reception of the sacraments. In her spare time, she coordinates the core team of volunteers who are planning the parish's Fifty Years Celebration.

Sister Maureen creates a sense of community wherever she ministers as she did at St. Theresa's School in Oakland where she taught first grade for 12 years as well as coordinated school and parish liturgies. At Christ the King Parish, her greatest challenge, as well as sense of accomplishment, is to empower volunteers to recognize their talents and gifts and to use them freely in the service of others. One of these volunteers is Steve Callaway, who not only teaches in the Faith Formation Program, but is also a recently elected member of Holy Names College Board of Trustees. Another challenge is to help children and families focus their efforts in outreach to others. And so families in Faith Formation at Christ the King help support the Tutwiler, Mississippi, project of Sister Maureen Delaney, the St. Mary / St. Francis Homeless Shelter in Oakland, the homeless shelter of Contra Costa County, an AIDS ministry project by providing toiletry gift bags for patients, and the Next Step Learning Center in West Oakland, where Sister Maureen has been an active Board Member since the program began.

Loving one's work or ministry is a "gift." It is what Sr. Maureen treasures about her ministry in Pleasant Hill and she counts as blessing the wonderful children, youth and families that she is privileged to serve."

Seven new pastoral associates have been appointed to serve in parishes in the Oakland Diocese:

In a public apology for sex abuse by clergy and by other Church employees, the Diocese of Oakland has invited survivors of sexual abuse to a service of apology and reconciliation with Bishop Cummins. The service will take place on Saturday, March 25th at Leona Lodge, 444 Mountain Blvd., Oakland at 1:00 p.m. Bishop Cummins' public statement includes: "Many times the victims of sexual abse have ben treated with additional abuse or indifference by society and by the church, as if they have caused the abuse or should have been silent about it rather than create a scandal." Beginning six years ago the Diocese of Oakland replaced its review panel led by priests with a review panel led by laity and has referred every possible criminal case to authorities. In that time about a dozen allegations have been made against six priests. The committee has sided with the victim in all but one case. No case was severe enough for civil authorities to file charges, but in each case the Diocese has insisted on early retirement or church sponsored treatment.

Letter from Bishop Cummins to the Diocese
"New Patterns of Organization"

November 15, 1999

Dear Friends,

Our diocesan area, though small geographically, is large in population. From 1964 to 1994, the two counties of Alameda and Contra Costa doubled in size from 1.2 million people to 2.3 million.

The Council of Priests sensed the problems that this growth brought upon us a decade ago. That we might embrace the future with care, the priests recommended that we develop a strategic plan to nurture carefully both our financial and personnel resources. Over the years our financial situation has grown more stable. Ministries in the parishes and at the diocesan level have both expanded and have developed more prepared people for the work. Vocations to the priesthood have been steady through the years but have received much greater support and interest in these recent times. I am grateful for all of this.

We have reached, however, a point in our diocesan life wherein we must study again how best to use our priest personnel. This year we have lost three pastors through death, two very unexpectedly. We have been faced, too, with a number of illnesses that have affected other competent and active pastors. The suddenness of all these events leads us to a careful examination of our diocesan needs.

We have 88 parishes. These vary in size, language and culture and opportunities and responsibilities. In staffing these we will have to estimate as carefully as we can the priority of ministries needed and especially the use of our priests and deacons. We will have to think regionally, sometimes sharing administrative responsibilities and personnel as well. We may develop different types as we have in Moraga and San Leandro, whereby the administration of the parish will be in the hands of a lay person or deacon with priestly responsibility somewhat more specified and less broad.

I ask for your understanding as we move to what may be many newer patterns of organization. At the same time I offer thanks for the involvement of so many of our people participating in the mission of the Church and especially of the parish. I thank you, too, for the evident interest in promoting vocations to the priesthood. Those efforts represent a very wholesome investment.

Again, thank you for your faith, generosity and understanding.

Sincerely,

John S. Cummins
Bishop of Oakland

Check out these Job Openings in the Diocese of Oakland.