Pope Names Bishop Gregory Parkes as New Bishop of St. Petersburg; Accepts Resignation of Bishop Robert Lynch

WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has named Bishop Gregory L. Parkes, up until now bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, as bishop of St. Petersburg, Florida and has accepted the resignation of bishop Robert N. Lynch from the pastoral governance.

The appointment was made public in Washington, November 28, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.  

Bishop Parkes was born in Mineola, New York on April 2, 1964. He attended St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida from 1993-1996 and the Pontifical North American College in the Vatican City State from 1996-2000. He holds a Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University (1998) and a Canon Law (J.C.L.) degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University (2000), as well as a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida State University.

He was ordained a priest of the Orlando diocese by Bishop Norbert Dorsey on June 26, 1999.

Assignments after ordination included: parochial vicar, Holy Family Catholic Church, Orlando from 2000-2004 and parochial administrator and pastor of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Celebration, Florida, from 2005-2012. Bishop Parkes also served the Orlando diocese as Vicar General and Chancellor for Canonical Affairs and as the pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Celebration, Florida.

On March 20, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He was installed as the fifth bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee on June 5, 2012.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch, 75, was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Miami on May 13, 1978. He was appointed the fourth bishop of St. Petersburg on December 5, 1995 and was installed on January 26, 1996.

The diocese of St. Petersburg comprises 3,177 square miles in the state of Florida. It has a total population of 3,009,840 people of whom 445,456, or 14 percent, are Catholic.
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Keywords: Pope Francis, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Bishop Gregory L. Parkes, Robert N. Lynch, Diocese of St. Petersburg, Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee.
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