On Monday, August 13, 2018, the Diocese received an accusation of inappropriate contact with a minor involving Fr. Edward Jones. In accord with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, and our own Diocesan Policy and Protocol, an investigation was conducted to determine whether or not this accusation had the semblance of truth.
Jose Antonio Jimenez is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. for the 1992 murder of Phyllis Minas. In an August 9 letter to Governor Rick Scott on behalf of the bishops of Florida, Michael Sheedy, executive director, appealed to the governor to commute Jimenez' death sentence to a life sentence without parole.
"... Pope Francis has ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to assert 'the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person' and to commit the church to working toward its abolition worldwide."
Bishop Wack addresses the serious and tragic situation concerning Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and suggests to bishops to enter more deeply into prayer, fasting and penance.