The Diocese of Palm Beach ( la, Dioecesis Litoris Palmensis) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

diocese 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 associa ...

of the

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 ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The patron saint of the diocese is the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

under the title Queen of the Apostles. The current diocesan bishop is

Gerald Barbarito Gerald Michael Barbarito (born January 4, 1950) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has served as bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida since August 28, 2003. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Ogde ...

. The Diocese serves 280,000 Catholics in 53 parishes and missions. The Diocese of Palm Beach is a suffragan diocese in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

of the metropolitan

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 ...

History

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 ...

established the diocese on June 16, 1984 from territory taken from the Archdiocese of Miami and 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 ...

Reports of sex abuse

On January 7, 2015, India native Rev. Jose Palimattom, who was serving as the pastor at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, was arrested for possessing child pornography and for asking a child to erase it from his phone. On September 17, 2020, a lawsuit was filed against both the Diocese of Palm Beach and administrators of its All Saint's School in

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

, alleging that both parties failed to protect an 11-year-old girl from repeated sexual abuse by another student in an unsupervised classroom on campus. The alleged abuse occurred between January and March 2020.

Bishops

Bishops of Palm Beach

Thomas Vose Daily Thomas Vose Daily (September 23, 1927 – May 14, 2017) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn in New York from 1990 to 2003. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Palm B ...

(1984–1990), appointed

Bishop of Brooklyn The Diocese of Brooklyn is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of New York. It is headquartered in Brooklyn and its territory encompasses the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. ...

Joseph Keith Symons Joseph Keith Symons (born October 14, 1932) 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 ...

(1990–1998)
-

Robert Nugent Lynch Robert Nugent Lynch (born May 27, 1941) 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. Biography Early life Robert Lynch was born on May 27, 1941, ...

, Bishop of St. Petersburg (

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 ...

1998–1999.) #

Anthony Joseph 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 Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee from 1988 to 1998. He later served as the third bishop of the Dioce ...

(1999–2002) #

Seán Patrick O'Malley Seán Patrick O'Malley (born June 29, 1944) is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church serving as the archbishop of Boston. He is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2006. Since its ...

, OFM Cap. (2002–2003), appointed

Archbishop of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...

(elevated to Cardinal in 2006) # Gerald Michael Barbarito (2003–present)

High schools

* Cardinal Newman High School, West Palm Beach * John Carroll Catholic High School, Fort Pierce *

Saint John Paul II Academy Saint John Paul II Academy (formerly Pope John Paul II High School) is a private, Catholic, coeducational, college-preparatory secondary education institution run by the Eastern North America District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Chri ...

, Boca Raton

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach Official Site
Christian organizations established in 1984 Palm Beach Palm Beach 1984 establishments in Florida {{US-RC-diocese-stub