Diocese of Palm Beach

Background

The first Catholic presence in the Palm Beach area was the presidio of Santa Lucia, established by Spanish soldiers somewhere around Jupiter Bay 1565. Facing attacks from the Jaegas peoples and running low on supplies, the Spanish abandoned the fort after three months.^[3]

By 1606, Spanish Florida was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Havana in Cuba. 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.^[4] After the American Revolution, Spain regained control of Florida in 1784.^[5]

In 1793, the Vatican changed the jurisdiction for Florida Catholics from Havana to the Apostolic Vicariate of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, based in New Orleans.^[6] In the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, Spain ceded all of Florida to the United States, which established the Florida Territory in 1821.^[7]

In 1825, Pope Leo XII erected the Vicariate of Alabama and Florida, which included all of Florida, based in Mobile Alabama.^[8] In 1858, Pius IX moved Florida into a new Apostolic Vicariate of Florida,^[9] which in 1870, was elevated into the Diocese of St. Augustine.^[10] The new diocese covered all of Florida except for the Florida Panhandle region.

Bishop John Moore of St. Augustine asked the Society of Jesus in 1889 to assume jurisdiction over all of South Florida. The Jesuits then sent Conrad M. Widman to West Palm Beach in 1892 to serve as its first priest. He founded St. Ann Parish, the first parish in the diocese. The land for the church was donated by the developer Henry Flagler.^[11][12]

In 1910, the first Catholic parish in Fort Pierce, Saint Anastasia, was founded.^[13] Six years later, the St. Joseph Mission was established in Stuart. By 1930, five parishes had been erected in the area. The Franciscan Sisters of Allegany in 1938 opened St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach. It is today St. Mary's Medical Center.^[14] The first parish in Boca Raton, St. Joan of Arc, was erected in 1956.^[15]

The Vincentian Fathers in 1963 established the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, which would later by used by all the Florida dioceses.^[12]When the Vatican elevated the Diocese of Miami to the Archdiocese of Miami in 1968, it moved Palm Beach and Martin Counties from the Diocese of St. Augustine.^[12]St. Ignatius Loyola Parish was founded in 1970 in Palm Beach Gardens. It would later become the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Parish.^[16]

Establishment and early history

Pope John Paul II established the Diocese of Palm Beach on June 16, 1984, taking its territory from the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Orlando.^[17][18] He appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Daily of the Archdiocese of Boston as the first bishop of Palm Beach.^[19] Among his most noteworthy actions were the leading of anti-abortion prayers vigils at local women's health clinics. In 1990, John Paul II selected Daily to serve as bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn.^[19]

In June 1990, Bishop Joseph Symons of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee was nominated as the second bishop of Palm Beach.^[20] In 1991, Symons authorized the taping of an exorcism for TV broadcast. The rite was performed by James J. LeBar and other priests on a 16-year-old girl identified as "Gina." Footage of the exorcism was then aired on ABC's 20/20 TV program. In allowing the taping, Symons said that he hoped it would help "counteract diabolical activities around us."^[21] By 1995, the diocese had a Catholic population of approximately 200,000 in 46 parishes and five missions.^[12]

In April 1998, a 53-year-old man informed Archbishop John C. Favalora that Symons had sexually abused him when he was an altar server decades earlier. Symons admitted his guilt. In June 1998, Lynch announced that the pope had accepted Symons' resignation as bishop of Palm Beach and named an apostolic administrator of the diocese.^[22][23][24]

Bishop Anthony O'Connell of the Diocese of Knoxville became the new bishop of Palm Beach in 1998.^[25] On March 8, 2002, O'Connell admitted that he had molested at least two students of St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri, during his 25-year career there.^[26] That same day, O'Connell offered his resignation as bishop of Palm Beach to the Vatican. It was accepted by Pope John Paul II on March 13, 2002.^[27][28]

Later history

Bishop Seán O'Malley of the Diocese of Fall River was announced as the new bishop of Palm Beach in September 2002.^[29] After less than a year in Palm Beach, the pope appointed O'Malley as archbishop of Boston. Gerald Barbarito, formerly bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, was bishop from 2003 until 2026.^[30] His successor is Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez.

Sex abuse

The family of a Lake Worth teenager reported to the diocese in 1998 that Edwin Collins had attempted to sexually assault him at Collins' residences. Collins was a retired priest from the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The diocese immediately confronted Collins with the accusations, prompting him to resign from public ministry.^[31]

In May 2002, Kelly Hoffman reported to the diocese that she had been sexually abused by Frank Flynn, starting at age 12 in 1978 and continuing for the next seven years. The diocese had also received complaints about the priest seducing adult women; one alleged victim was grieving a deceased husband. Flynn had returned to Ireland that same year. When Flynn came back to Florida in 2004, Bishop O'Malley suspended him from ministry in the diocese.^[32]

Police in September 2002 arrested Elias F. Guimaraes, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace Mission Church near Delray Beach, of soliciting sex from a minor. Guimaraes had arranged online to meet a teenager at the beach, but he was arrested there in a police sting operation.^[33] He pleaded guilty in federal court in January 2003 and was sentenced in April 2003 to 51 months in prison.^[34][35] Guimaraes was deported to Brazil after his release from prison.

In January 2015, Jose Palimattom, a priest at Holy Name of Jesus Church in West Palm Beach, was arrested for possessing child pornography and showing images to a 14-year-old. Arresting officers discovered 40 pornographic images of preteens on the priest's phone.^[36] Palimattom was convicted, sentenced to six months in jail, and deported to India after his release.^[37]

Bishops of Palm Beach

1. Thomas Vose Daily (1984–1990), appointed Bishop of Brooklyn
2. Joseph Keith Symons (1990–1998)
   - Robert Nugent Lynch, Bishop of St. Petersburg (apostolic administrator 1998–1999.)
3. Anthony Joseph O'Connell (1999–2002)
4. Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap. (2002–2003), appointed Archbishop of Boston (elevated to Cardinal in 2006)
5. Gerald Michael Barbarito (2003–2025)
6. Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez (2026–present)