Florida Catholic | Diocese Quietly Marks Its 40th Anniversary

Diocese quietly marks its 40th anniversary

JANET SHELTON | FLORIDA CATHOLIC ST. PETERSBURG BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 05.20.08

Bishop Robert N. Lynch enters the sanctuary at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle followed by Msgr. Michael Souckar and Archbishop John C. Favalora at the start of a 40th Anniversary Eucharistic Celebration May 15.

ED FOSTER JR. | FC
Bishop Robert N. Lynch enters the sanctuary at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle followed by Msgr. Michael Souckar and Archbishop John C. Favalora at the start of a 40th Anniversary Eucharistic Celebration May 15.

ST. PETERSBURG | Choosing low–key over splash, the St. Petersburg Diocese commemorated its 40th birthday quietly the evening of May 15.

After a morning dedication of the diocese’s Bethany Center retreat facility in Lutz, Bishop Robert N. Lynch ate dinner with his priests and then celebrated Mass with Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami, priests and a couple of hundred others in the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle.

Archbishop Favalora opened the Mass by congratulating the diocese and Bishop Lynch, who celebrates 30 years of ordination in May, and by recalling the five-and-a-half years when the archbishop was bishop of St. Petersburg. He said the night marked the anniversary of the night he was installed as bishop of St. Petersburg Diocese.

“Nineteen years ago this evening, at this hour, I was sitting in the chair up there and Bishop (W. Thomas) Larkin was in the chair here.” the archbishop said. “My mother was seated in the first row.”

Archbishop Favalora joked about how he has aged since he headed the diocese.

“When I used to preach from up here, most of the time I didn’t have the text. In my later years I’m growing more and more attached to the text,” he said. “In addition, the text is probably large enough that you can read it down there.”

The archbishop talked about the history of the church in Florida, a history that dates back to the early 1500s. The Diocese of St. Augustine was established in 1857.

ED FOSTER JR.
Diocese of St. Petersburg seminarians take part in the liturgy celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of St. Petersburg at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle May 15. From left to right are, Anthony Ustick, Johathan Emery, Victor Ambrose, Justin Paskert and Filipe Gonzalez.

“Forty years ago … God’s plan developed even further with the establishment of the Diocese of St. Petersburg on the west coast of Florida,” he said, adding that other dioceses soon followed. “Each new ecclesiastical offspring … was evidence of his divine plan in and through Jesus Christ.”

The St. Petersburg Diocese was a post-Vatican II diocese, and those leading it took its monumental changes to its people. Bishop Charles B. McLaughlin and those who came after him built the diocese “into a faith-filled and faithful community in communion with the bishop of Rome,” the archbishop said.

“The Vatican II call to holiness clearly embraces every man, woman and child of the Diocese of St. Petersburg,” he continued. “Today we come to give thanks to my predecessors, Bishop McLaughlin and Bishop Larkin, and for my successor Bishop Lynch, and for the laity. … Today we celebrate God’s loving providence over all the people of the Diocese of St. Petersburg.”

Bishop Lynch said he was grateful for the “many generous blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us” since the diocese was established May 8, 1968. He noted that he and the archbishop have led the diocese for almost 45 percent of its history and “did so trusting in the providence of God and in service of all our friends in faith.”

He also said he wasn’t sorry Archbishop Favalora went to Miami to lead the archdiocese.

“Quite frankly, and I hope he takes this right, I’m glad he left and I’m glad I was asked to come.”

Bishop Lynch thanked those who had built and served the diocese over the past four decades: the priests, more than 1,000 religious men and women, the deacons, and, of course, the laypeople.

“To the women, men and children of the last 40 years: You have made our church strong with your support and presence,” he said. “Beloved, dear faithful Catholics, you have nobly withstood the test of time.”

“(This anniversary) is neither silver, gold, diamond nor platinum. It is simply one more milestone passed on our journey to eternal life with the Lord,” Bishop Lynch said. “May the provident, loving and generous Lord continue to bless our local church.”

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Diocese quietly marks its 40th anniversary

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