Young Clarence went to Catholic grade school and wanted to enter the seminary high school. But his father nixed the idea. His oldest brother Len remembers: "He wanted to go into the seminary after the eighth grade, but my dad thought it would be a good idea for him to finish high school first." Larry graduated from Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland and the calling persisted. He entered college seminary and proceeded through to post-graduate theology studies at St. Patrick's on the other side of the bay. He was ordained by Bishop Floyd L. Begin on May 2, 1975, in St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Oakland. "When he got ordained he was crying," Trudy recalled. "I said, 'Why are you crying?' He said, 'I'm so happy.'" Father Silva continued to find happiness in his vocation, a humble joy that has gained the respect of his parishioners, colleagues and bishop. His siblings have long admired his priestly dedication. "He is a wonderful priest and has always tried to shepherd people," Len said. As a parish priest, Bishop Silva served as an associate pastor or pastor in 10 churches for 28 years. They typically were not easy places to administer. Said his youngest brother Frank: "Most of the parishes he has been in the Oakland diocese are low-income parishes with high crime rates." "He has managed to work with those people and to be their priest," he said. Father George Mockel, a close friend seminary classmate, described Bishop Silva as "direct and honest in a very charitable way." "I have never known him to show cowardice in the face of a challenge," he said, offering the example in which the future bishop was asked to close a couple of parish schools. "He had the unhappy task of dealing with families and parents," Father Mockel said, "and he got the brunt of it." "He handled it well, and was always very charitable," he said, "even with those who didn't agree with him." It was his integrity and experience that impressed Bishop of Oakland Allen Vigneron enough to appoint the pastor to be his vicar general in November of 2003. "I recognized in Bishop Silva a respected pastor, with a broad range of experiences," Bishop Vigneron said. "But most importantly, I found him to be a man of great faith in Christ, with a heartfelt zeal to share that love of Christ with others."