Gregory Lawrence Parkes (born April 2, 1964) is an American prelate of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. 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 church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...
in Florida from 2012 to 2016.
Early life and education
Gregory Parkes was born on April 2, 1964, in
Mineola, New York
Mineola is a village in and the county seat of Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from an Algonquin Chief, Miniolagamika, which means "pleasant village".
...
. His brother
Stephen Parkes
Stephen Douglas Parkes (born June 2, 1965) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the bishop of the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia since September 2020.
Early life and education
Stephen D. Parkes was born in M ...
is the
Bishop of Savannah in Georgia. For primary school, Gregory Parkes attended St. Rose of Lima School in
Massapequa, New York. Parkes graduated from
Massapequa High School
Massapequa High School is a public high school located in Massapequa, New York, United States, for students in grades 10 through 12.
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,825 students and 142.4 classroom teachers (on an ...
and attended
Daytona Beach Community College
Daytona State College (DSC) is a public college with its main campus in Daytona Beach, Florida. DSC also has 6 smaller regional campuses throughout Volusia and Flagler counties. It is part of the Florida College System.
The college offers more ...
in Daytona, Beach, Florida. He earned a
Bachelor of Finance degree from
Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and worked in banking in
Tampa for seven years.
Parkes decided to become a priest after attending morning masses and prayers. He studied for the priesthood at
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary located in Boynton Beach, Florida for the education and formation of seminarians to the Roman Catholic priesthood.
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary was established to form m ...
in Boynton Beach, Florida. In 1990, Parkes entered the
Pontifical North American College and the
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
in Rome, where he received a
Bachelor of Theology
The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...
degree and a
Licentiate in Canon Law in 2000.
Priesthood
On June 26, 1999, Parkes was ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Orlando
The Diocese of Orlando ( la, Dioecesis Orlandensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Florida. It encompasses about spanning Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Marion, Lake, Volusia, Brevard, Polk, and S ...
by Bishop
Norbert Dorsey.
After his ordination, Parkes served as the
parochial vicar
A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
of Holy Family Parish in
Orlando, Florida, from 1999 to 2005. He was the founding pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in
Celebration, Florida, serving there from 2005 to 2012. Parkes served as chancellor of the diocese from 2005 to 2012. He became its
vicar general
A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...
in 2009.
Episcopal career
Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee
On March 20, 2012,
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
appointed Parkes as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He attended his first
Ad Limina meeting prior to consecration. Parkes was installed and consecrated on June 5, 2012, at St. Paul's Church in
Pensacola, Florida. Archbishop
Thomas Wenski
Thomas Gerard Wenski (born October 18, 1950) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Archbishop of Miami by Pope Benedict XVI on April 20, 2010 and was installed on June 1, 2010. He previously served as Bishop of ...
was the consecrating prelate. Bishops
John Noonan and
Felipe Estévez were the co-consecrators.
Bishop of St. Petersburg
On November 28, 2016,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
appointed Parkes as bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, succeeding Bishop
Robert Lynch. Parkes was installed at the
Cathedral of Saint Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg on January 4, 2017. For his pastoral motto, Parkes chose “To your name give the glory” from
Psalm 115, Verse 1.
On November 14, 2018, Parkes was elected treasurer of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...
(USCCB).
On October 17, 2018, Parkes and the Diocese of St. Petersburg were named in a sexual abuse lawsuit by Mark Cattell, a Virginia resident. Cattell alleged that, at age nine, he had been abused in 1981 by Robert D. Huneke, a priest at Christ the King Parish in Tampa. In 1980, Huneke had sent a letter to the
Bishop of Rockville Centre in New York, saying he had abused a boy named John Salveson years earlier in New York. On August 7, 1981, Salveson, now an adult, had written Bishop
William Larkin about Huneke. Despite Salveson's complaints, the diocese did not removed Huneke from ministry until 1982.
Parkes attended his second Ad Limina visit in 2019. While meeting with Francis, the Pope noticed Parkes' 6'8" height and asked if he played
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
. Parkes started a "View from the Top"
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
, giving an overview of the diocese, and his "Invitation to Worship" podcast, giving a quick overview of the weekly reading.
See also
*
Catholic Church hierarchy
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishop (Catholic Church), bishops, Priesthood (Catholic Church), priests, and deacons. In the Catholic ecclesiology, ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy or ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States
With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...
*
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
This is a historical list of all bishops of the Catholic Church whose sees were within the present-day boundaries of the United States, with links to the bishops who consecrated them. It includes only members of the United States Conference of Cat ...
*
List of Catholic bishops of the United States
The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including its five inhabited territories.
The U.S. Catholic Church comprises:
* 176 Latin Church dioceses led by bishops
* 18 Eastern Catholic eparchies led by ...
*
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops.
Lists
Catholic
* Bishop in the Catholic Chur ...
References
External links
Diocese of Saint Petersburg Official Site
Episcopal succession
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkes, Gregory
1964 births
Living people
People from Mineola, New York
Florida State University alumni
Pontifical North American College alumni
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
Roman Catholic bishops of Pensacola–Tallahassee