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 most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charlesto ...

. 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 The Pontifical College Josephinum is a private Roman Catholic seminary and university in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded by Joseph Jessing in 1888 and was granted the status of a Pontifical College in 1892 by Pope Leo XIII, making it the only pon ...

. 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 Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary (formerly Blessed John XXIII National Seminary) is a Roman Catholic seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. It offers a graduate-level program designed for priesthood candidates aged 30 and above, often called "se ...

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 di ...

degree in May, 1978.

Priesthood

On May 13, 1978, Lynch was ordained a priest by Archbishop Edward Anthony McCarthy for the Archdiocese of 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 coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. 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, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

, 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 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 adm ...

of the Diocese of Palm Beach, 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 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. 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 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