Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg

The Diocese of St. Petersburg comprises 3,177 square miles (8,230 km2), encompassing Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties.[2] In 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto, hoping to find gold in Florida, landed near present-day Port Charlotte or San Carlos Bay.The Spanish missionary Reverend Luis de Cáncer arrived by sea with several Dominican priests in present-day Bradenton in 1549.[5] After the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Spain ceded all of Florida to Great Britain for the return of Cuba.Given the antagonism of Protestant Great Britain to Catholicism, the majority of the Catholic population in Florida fled to Cuba.[12] Arizona jurist Edmund F. Dunne established the Catholic colony of San Antonio in Pasco County in the early 1880s.Bishop John Moore then invited the Society of Jesus in New Orleans to assume control of the parishes in southern and central Florida.[2] In 1889, Bishop John Moore asked the Benedictines to establish several mission churches on the Florida Gulf Coast from Pasco County northward.[17]After World War II, Bishop Joseph P. Hurley of St. Augustine started a massive program of purchasing property throughout Florida to develop new parishes for the increasing Catholic population.[5] Monsignor W. Thomas Larkin, the vicar general of the diocese and interim diocesan administrator, was appointed the second bishop of St. Petersburg by Pope John Paul II in 1979.With this funding, Lynch opened Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School in Spring Hill in 2003 and the Bethany Retreat Center in Lutz in 2007.[2] After Lynch retired in 2016, Pope Francis that same year appointed Bishop Gregory Parkes of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee as his replacement.[25] Reverend Robert L. Schaeufele was arrested in Michigan in June 2002 on capital sexual battery charges from Pinellas County in Florida.[27] Four of Schaeufele's victims sued the diocese in November 2003, claiming that it allowed him access to young children despite previous complaints about his behavior.[33][34] In October 2018, Mark Cattell, a magistrate in Virginia, sued the diocese, claiming that he had been sexually assaulted by Reverend Robert D. Huneke from Christ the King Parish in Tampa.
St. Anthony Parish, established 1883
Bishop W. Thomas Larkin Pastoral Center, St. Petersburg
United StatesFloridaTampa BayPinellasHillsboroughHernandoCitrusEcclesiastical provinceCatholicSui iurisLatin ChurchRoman RiteCathedral of Saint Jude the ApostleSaint JudeFrancisGregory ParkesThomas WenskiRobert Nugent LynchdioceseCatholic Churchsuffragan dioceseArchdiocese of MiamiClearwaterHistory of the Catholic Church in FloridaHernando De SotoPort CharlotteSan Carlos BayLuis de CáncerDominicanBradentonTocobagaFrench and Indian WarProtestantAmerican RevolutionNew OrleansAdams–Onís TreatyFlorida TerritoryPope Leo XIISt. LouisSisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and MaryAcademy of the Holy NamesEdmund F. DunneSan AntonioPasco CountyBenedictineSan Antonio, Floridayellow feverJohn MooreSaint Leo AbbeyHoly Name PriorySaint Leo, FloridaSisters of St. JosephRedemptoristsSalesiansWorld War IIJoseph P. HurleyPope Paul VIDiocese of MiamiCharles B. McLaughlinDiocese of RaleighCathedral of St. Jude the ApostleW. Thomas Larkinvicar generalPope John Paul IIDiocese of Venice in FloridaHIV/AIDSecumenicismJohn FavaloraDiocese of Alexandria in LouisianaRobert N. Lyncheucharistic congresscapital campaignBishop McLaughlin Catholic High SchoolPinellas ParkhomelessPope FrancisDiocese of Pensacola-Tallahasseeseverance payMichigansexual batteryPinellas CountyenemasTarpon SpringslaicizedmagistrateDiocese of Rockville CentreCharles Borromeo McLaughlinWilliam Thomas LarkinJohn Clement FavaloraArchbishop of MiamiGregory Lawrence ParkesJoseph Keith SymonsDavid Leon ToupsCoat of arms of the King of SpainJude the ApostleClearwater Central Catholic High SchoolJesuit High SchoolSt. Petersburg Catholic High SchoolTampa Catholic High SchoolCatholic Church by countryCatholic Church hierarchyList of the Catholic dioceses of the United StatesCatholic-Hierarchy.orgSacred Heart Church, TampaSt. Patrick Church, TampaSaint Leo UniversityAcademy of the Holy Names, TampaBishop McLaughlin Catholic High School, HudsonClearwater Central Catholic High School, ClearwaterJesuit High School, TampaSt. Petersburg Catholic High School, St. PetersburgTampa Catholic High School, TampaLaurence HigginsDavid ToupsSaint Louis Catholic CemeteryHoly Name MonasteryFlorida CatholicDiocese of OrlandoDiocese of Palm BeachDiocese of Pensacola–TallahasseeDiocese of St. Augustine