The Diocese of Saint Petersburg (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Petri in Florida) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Tampa Bay region of Gulf Coast Florida.
The Diocese of Saint Petersburg is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Miami. Its mother church is St. Jude the Apostle Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Florida. As of 2023, the current bishop is Gregory Parkes.
Statistics
The Diocese of St. Petersburg comprises 3,177 square miles (8,230km2), encompassing Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties. The principal cities are Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater.
As of 2023, the diocese had a total Catholic population of approximately 500,000, with 280,000 of them registered with the diocese.[2]
History
1500 to 1800
In the mid-1500s, present day Florida became a Spanish colony. The first Catholic presence in the Tampa Bay are was the ill-fated mission of the Spanish missionary Reverend Luis de Cancer. He arrived by sea with several Dominican priests in present day Bradenton in 1549. Encountering a seemingly peaceful party of Tocobaga clan members, they decided to travel on to Tampa. Several of the priests went overland with the Tocobaga while Cáncer and the rest of the party sailed to meet them.[3]
Arriving at Tampa Bay, Cáncer learned while still on his ship that the priests in the overland party had been slaughtered by their companions. Refusing advise to leave the area, Cáncer went ashore, where he too was murdered.[3] The Spanish attempted to establish another mission in the Tampa Bay area in 1567, but it was soon abandoned.[4]
After the signing of the 1763 Treaty of Paris to end the Seven Years War, the British took control of the Spanish colonies in Florida, prompting many Catholic settlers to leave.[4] In 1783, after the end of the American Revolution, the British returned all of Florida to Spain and Catholic settlers began returning to the area.
In 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Savannah, which included all of Florida east of the Apalachicola River. Seven years later, the same pope move this Florida territory into a new Apostolic Vicariate of Florida and named Bishop Augustin Verot as vicar apostolic.[5] Since the new vicariate had only three priests, Vérot travelled to France in 1859 to recruit more. He succeeded in bringing back seven priests.[6] The first Catholic church in Tampa, St. Louis, was founded in 1859.
In 1870, Pius IX elevated the Vicariate of Florida into the Diocese of St. Augustine and named Vérot as its first bishop.[7] The new diocese covered all of Florida except for the Florida Panhandle region. The Tampa Bay region would remain part of this diocese for the next 98 years.
Arizona jurist Edmund F. Dunne established the Catholic colony of San Antonio in Pasco County in the early 1880s. Residence in the community was originally restricted to practising Catholics; most of the settlers were Irish and German immigrants.[9]
A yellow fever epidemic in Tampa in 1888 killed three of the resident priests in the area. Bishop John Moore then invited the Jesuit order from New Orleans to assume control of St. Louis Church. In succeeding years, as the area grew in population the Jesuits established more parishes and schools.[4]
The parish of Saint Mary, Our Lady of Grace, founded in 1908, was the first Catholic parish in St. Petersburg.[10] The first Catholic church in Clearwater, St. Cecelia, was dedicated in 1924.[11]
St. Anthony Parish, established 1883
After World War II, Bishop Joseph P. Hurley of St. Augustine started a massive program of purchasing property throughout Florida to develop new parishes for the increasing Catholic population. He also recruited many priests from the northern states and Ireland to serve in Florida. He founded over 40% of the parishes within the present Diocese of St. Petersburg.[2]
McLaughlin's main task was to set up the new diocese. McLaughlin, a pilot, often flew from event to event, earning him the nickname "Hurricane Charlie."He died in 1978.[4]
Monsignor W. Thomas Larkin, the vicar general of the diocese and interim diocesan administrator, was appointed the second bishop of St. Petersburg by Pope John Paul II in 1979.[4] Larkin established fifteen new parishes and three new schools. In 1983, Larkin dedicated the diocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[12] John Paul II erected the Diocese of Venice in Florida in 1983, taking most of its territory from the Diocese of St. Petersburg.[13]
He created new offices for African-American and Hispanic Catholics, along with an office for Catholics with disabilities.[14] Larkin also worked on services for the needy and for those with HIV/AIDS, and was a strong advocate for ecumenicism.[15] Larkin retired in 1988.
1988 to 2000
John Paul II named Bishop John Favalora of the Diocese of Alexandria as the next bishop of St. Petersburg in 1989.[16] He reorganized diocesan administrative functions and consolidated outreach programs. He started WLMS 88.3 FM to serve the northern area of the diocese. In 1993, Favarola declared a "A Year of Favor From The Lord" to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the erection of the diocese. In 1994, Favalora became Archbishop of Miami.[4]
John Paul II in 1995 appointed Reverend Robert N. Lynch of Miami as the fourth bishop of St. Petersburg.[17][18] In the summer of 1998, Lynch inaugurated the Renew 2000 program to educated and motivate Catholic laity in the diocese. Later that year, he gave support to the Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute, a formal training program for the laity. Lynch also started a program to forgive the debt of parishes.[4]
2000 to present
In 2000, Lynch opened the Bishop W. Thomas Larkin Pastoral Center in St. Petersburg, consolidating ministries from throughout the diocese. The first diocesan synod was held in 2002 and the first eucharistic congress in 2003. He successfully completed the first capital campaign of the diocese. With this funding, Lynch opened Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School in Spring Hill in 2003 and the Bethany Retreat Center in Lutz in 2007. Lynch also opened Pinellas Hope, a homeless shelter in Pinellas Park that evolved into a service center for the homeless.[2]
In 2001, Bill Urbanski, the former diocesan spokesman, accused Lynch of inappropriate behavior during a business trip. Urbanski said Lynch bought him lavish gifts, forced to him to share a hotel room, grabbed his thigh at one point, and asked Urbanski to photograph him topless for a gag picture. The diocese denied any wrongdoing by Lynch, but paid Urbanski $100,000 in severance pay. Lynch apologized for his actions.[19]
Reverend Robert L. Schaeufele was arrested in Michigan in June 2002 on capital sexual battery charges from Pinellas County in Florida. Two men had accused him of giving them enemas when they were 11 years old at Sacred Heart Church in Pinellas Park from 1983 to 1985.[20] Schaeufele pleaded guilty in June 2003 to attempted capital sexual battery and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.[21] Four of Schaeufele's victims sued the diocese in November 2003, claiming that it allowed him access to young children despite previous complaints about his behavior.[22] By December 2003, seven lawsuits had been filed against the diocese regarding Schaeufele.[23] In April 2004, the diocese reached a settlement with 12 victims of Shaeufele for $1.1 million.[24]
Texas authorities arrested Reverend Gerry Appleby in March 2003 on a warrant from Pinellas County. Two men had accused him of sexually abusing them when they were minors at Antioch Catholic Church in Tarpon Springs during 1978 or 1979.[25] Appleby left Florida for Texas in 1979. A man had reported abuse by Appleby to the diocese in 1994; Appleby was laicized by the Vatican in 1995. In May 2004, Appleby pleaded guilty to attempted capital sexual battery and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[26]
In 2011, Lynch published a letter detailing how the diocese had spent $4.7 million since 1990 to settle sexual misconduct cases.[27][28]
In October 2018, Mark Cattell, a magistrate in Virginia, sued the diocese, claiming that he had been sexually assaulted by Reverend Robert D. Huneke from Christ the King Parish in Tampa. Cattell said that Hunke forced him to perform oral sex on him in 1981 when he was nine years old.
As part of the lawsuit, Cattell showed letters from John Salveson to the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Huneke's previous posting in New York, accusing him of sexual assault.
Another letter from Hunke to Rockville contained an admission of misconduct there.
Salveston in 1980 wrote to Bishop Larkin, warning him about Huneke. Despite Salveson's complaints, the diocese did not remove Huneke from ministry in St. Petersburg until 1982. Huneke then returned to New York, where he faced more sexual abuse accusations. He left the priesthood in 1989.[29][30]
As of May 2020, the diocese lists nine priests and five lay workers as having credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors. The list does not include religious priests, brothers or nuns.[31]
Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg
Notes
Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected
Adopted
1968
Escutcheon
The diocesan arms show an inverted Latin cross in a red and gold field. The four quarters contain a castle tower, a lion, an arrowhead and a halberd, or battle-ax
Symbolism
The inverted cross honors St. Peter, who was crucified upside down. The red and gold colors represent the Spanish explorers and missionaries in Florida. The castle tower and lion are part of the Coat of arms of the King of Spain. The arrowhead recognizes the Native American people of Florida. The halberd memorializes Jude the Apostle, who was killed with a halberd in Persia.
Education
As of 2023, the Diocese of St. Petersburg had 46 schools and early childhood centers along with two universities.[2]
The Diocese of Savannah is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Georgia in the United States. The mother church of the diocese is Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah. The patron saint is John the Baptist.
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The Diocese of Venice in Florida is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory–or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southwest Florida in the United States. It was founded on June 16, 1984.
The Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Missouri in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Louis.
Robert Nugent Lynch is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida from 1996 to 2016.
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Jean Marcel Pierre Auguste Vérot, known commonly as Augustin Vérot was a French-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida (1870–1876).
Bishop John Joseph Nevins was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami in Florida from 1979 to 1984 and as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Venice in Florida from 1984 until 2007.
William Thomas Larkin was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida from 1979 to 1988.
Joseph Keith Symons is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Symons served as bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida from 1990 to 1998. Previously, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida for several months in 1981, then was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida in October 1981.
Gregory Lawrence Parkes is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Parkes has been serving as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida since 2017. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida from 2012 to 2016.
David Leon Toups is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as Bishop of Beaumont since 2020. He was previously rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.
↑ Horgan, James J. (1990). Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory. Saint Leo, FL. Saint Leo College Press. ISBN978-0-945759-01-0
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United States 
Florida: Tampa Bay (Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties)
