Stories of Strength:
Dan McNevin
Uncovering the truth
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Just as a cabal of secret-keepers has hidden scores of institutional sins in the Catholic Church for what seems to be millennia, Dan McNevin didn’t realize that his own secret was shared by his brothers until tragedy struck.
Dan describes in his own words how the kindness and understanding of a priest, Father Tim Steir, helped him to confront the Oakland diocese and pursue justice first for him and his brothers, and then for others.
Over several decades since they met in 2004, both Father Steir and Dan persevered in elevating public awareness about the church’s failures and conspiracies to deceive. From civil lawsuits, to a report identifying 212 priests accused of sexual abuse in Northern California, to documenting nearly 800 new, hidden names revealed in California bankruptcies up and down the state, Dan continued the work. Ultimately, his family’s perpetrator, Father James Clark, was named in multiple civil lawsuits. Among the discoveries, Clark had been arrested and convicted of a felony sex crime in a different county before he was moved to Dan’s small hometown parish.
Dan joined SNAP in 2003. He was profiled in the New York Times best seller, Being Catholic Now (Kerry Kennedy, 2008) and received the 2025 “Citizen Journalist” award from the NorCal Society of Investigative Journalists for his work representing SNAP and all survivors.
Dan says, “Actually healing from this spiritual and physical betrayal may not be possible; it has irreparably altered me and my whole family. Healing was made harder, because I was lied to as an adult when I took my story to the Oakland bishop. Integrating the impacts, however, and exposing the betrayals has become the best way I know to help myself and everyone harmed by this catastrophe. If justice is a bridge from hurt to well-being, truth is the light that shows the way. The shadows of secrecy must be banished from that sacred transition.”
See a Child USA video produced by Jon Sherman, President of VC Productions, covering more survivor stories.
SNAP Survivors Network is the world’s oldest and largest community of survivors of clergy and institutional sexual abuse. Through public action and peer support, SNAP is building a future where no institution is beyond justice and no survivor stands alone. Our global community works to end sexual abuse in faith-based organizations by transforming laws, institutions, and lives. Please support SNAP’s vital mission.
