Robert Nugent Lynch (born May 27, 1941) 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 ...

, who served as bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida from 1996 to 2016.

Biography

Early life

Robert Lynch was born on May 27, 1941, in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. He grew up in

Montgomery, West Virginia Montgomery is a city in West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. Most of the city is in Fayette County, with the remainder in Kanawha County. The population was 1,280 at the 2020 census. From 1876 to 1890, the town was called Coal Valley Post Of ...

, to an Irish-American family that expected him to become a priest. Lynch soon entered the Pontifical College Josephinum. However, he found the College to be a dark, rigid place with strict rules and limited communication with his family. Eventually, Lynch dropped out and started working as an English teacher. Lynch's next job was as a

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

in Washington, D.C., representing the Ohio Catholic Conference at 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). His roommates were priests; their positive actions inspired him to reconsider the priesthood. Lynch entered the Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, graduating with a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degree in May, 1978.

Priesthood

On May 13, 1978, Lynch was ordained a priest by Archbishop

Edward Anthony McCarthy Edward Anthony McCarthy (April 10, 1918 – June 7, 2005) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami in Florida from 1977 to 1994. He previously served as bishop of the Di ...

for the

Archdiocese of Miami The Archdiocese of Miami ( la, Archidioecesis Miamiensis, es, Arquidiócesis de Miami, ht, Achidyosèz Miami) is a particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. Its ecclesiastical territory consists of Broward, Miami ...

in Charleston. After his ordination, Lynch served as associate pastor of St. James Parish in

North Miami, Florida North Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami camp ...

, and rector and president of St. John Vianney College Seminary in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. His last assignment before becoming bishop was in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, as the second pastor of St. Mark the Evangelist Parish.

Bishop of St. Petersburg

On December 5, 1995,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed Lynch as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg to fill the vacancy left by then Bishop

John Favalora John Clement Favalora (born December 5, 1935) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami from 1994 to 2010 and as bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana from 1986 to 1989 and a ...

. Lynch was consecrated and installed at the Cathedral of Saint Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg on January 26, 1996. Favalora served as

principal consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

with Archbishop Edward McCarthy and Archbishop

Paul Marcinkus Paul Casimir Marcinkus (; January 15, 1922 – February 20, 2006) was an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church and president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, from 1971 to 1989. Early ...

serving as principal co-Consecrators. Lynch served terms as the general secretary of the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) and the

National 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 ...

(NCCB). On June 6, 1998, Lynch was appointed as

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the

Diocese of Palm Beach The Diocese of Palm Beach ( la, Dioecesis Litoris Palmensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of Florida. The patron saint of the diocese is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Que ...

, while remaining the Bishop of St. Petersburg. He took over after John Paul II removed the existing bishop, Bishop Joseph Symons, for sexual abuse crimes. Lynch remained as administrator in the Diocese of Palm Beach until November 12, 1998, when Bishop

Anthony O'Connell Anthony J. O'Connell (May 10, 1938 – May 4, 2012) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic church. He served as the first of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee from 1988 to 1998. He later ser ...

was installed there as bishop. Lynch continued the reorganization and management of the Diocese of St. Petersburg begun under Bishop Favalora. He commissioned the building of the Bishop W. Thomas Larkin Pastoral Center in St. Petersburg, which was dedicated on March 31, 2000 He also took an active role in planning for the future construction of new Catholic high schools, and improvements to the existing schools. On June 2, 2011, Lynch published a letter detailing how the diocese had spent $4.7 million since 1990 to settle sexual misconduct cases. In 2001, Bill Urbanski, the diocese 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, and asked Urbanski to photograph him topless for a gag picture. The Diocese denied any wrongdoing and paid Urbanski $100,000

severance Severance may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Severance'' (film), a 2006 British horror film * ''Severance'' (novel), a 2018 novel by Ling Ma *''Severance'', a 2006 short-story collection by Robert Olen Butler * ''Severance'' (TV series), a ...

. Lynch apologized for his actions.

Retirement and legacy

Pope Francis accepted Lynch's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg on November 28, 2016, and named

Gregory Parkes Gregory Lawrence Parkes (born April 2, 1964) 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 Pensac ...

as his successor.

References

External links

Diocese of St. PetersburgBishop Lynch Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Robert Nugent 1941 births Living people Pontifical College Josephinum alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Saint Petersburg 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami