Church Catholic Church Ordination May 13, 1978 Predecessor John Favalora | Name Robert Lynch Successor Incumbent Consecration January 26, 1996 | |
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See Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg In office January 26, 1996— present Born May 27, 1941 (age 82)
Charleston, WV ( 1941-05-27 ) Education Pontifical College Josephinum | ||
Robert Nugent Lynch (born May 27, 1941) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the Bishop Emeritus of St. Petersburg, Florida. He was ordained and installed as the fourth Bishop of St. Petersburg on January 26, 1996.
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Education
Bishop Lynch received his bachelor of arts degree from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio in May 1963 and his master of divinity degree from Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts in May, 1978. That same month, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Miami.
Pastoral work
As a priest for the Archdiocese, Lynch served as associate pastor of St. James in North Miami, and rector and president of St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami. His most recent assignment before coming to St. Petersburg was in Fort Lauderdale as the pastor of St. Mark Catholic Church.
Episcopacy
On December 5, 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed Lynch the fourth Bishop of St. Petersburg to fill the vacancy left when John Favalora was named Archbishop of Miami a year prior.
Lynch was consecrated and installed as Bishop on January 26, 1996. Archbishop Favalora served as Principal Consecrator with Archbishop Edward McCarthy and Archbishop Paul Casimir Marcinkus serving as Principal Co-Consecrators.
Bishop Lynch served terms as the General Secretary of the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB).
Bishop Lynch was appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Palm Beach, while remaining the Bishop of St. Petersburg, on June 6, 1998. He remained administrator until November 12, 1998, when Bishop Anthony O'Connell was appointed to fill the vacancy.
Bishop Lynch continued the reorganization and management of the diocese begun under Archbishop Favalora. He commissioned the building of a new Pastoral Center, and on March 31, 2000, the newly erected Bishop W. Thomas Larkin Pastoral Center was formally dedicated. He also took an active role in planning for the future construction of new Catholic high schools, and improvements to the existing schools.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg during Lynch's tenure has spent $4.7 million to settle sexual misconduct cases.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation on November 28, 2016 and named Gregory Parkes as his successor.