News - November 2020 RSS Feed

Diocesan Annual Report - Year ended June 30, 2020

Dive into the season of Advent with practical and inspirational resources for your family, parish, or school.

It is such an honor for me to serve as your bishop. Thank you for your presence, your participation, and your prayers as we build up our local church. As we anticipate the coming of the Lord this Advent, I invite you to pray with me, with your family, and with the family of the Church. (see more)

Parishioners share how their faith journey was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We learn about the creative ways that we can continue to grow in our faith while at home. #ForeverUnited #PTdiocese

NEW YORK — Prominent leaders of the Catholic Church in America point to a “culture of clericalism” that led to laicized ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick rising through the ranks of the church despite decades-long accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse.

I welcome the report of the Holy See’s investigation into its knowledge and decision-making regarding Theodore McCarrick during his long career as a priest, bishop, and cardinal. We are studying these findings, and we are grateful to our Holy Father Pope Francis for his pastoral concern for the family of God in the United States and his leadership in calling the Church to greater accountability and transparency in addressing issues of abuse and the mishandling of abuse claims at every level.

God sent his Son into the world to conquer sin and death, and in his resurrection, we are redeemed and forgiven. Even as this truth gives us eternal hope, we recognize that sin, violence and sickness still prevail on earth. In the Catholic Church we have witnessed the horror of sexual abuse by clergy and other church leaders. It is an unspeakable action that cries to heaven for justice. The sin of sexual abuse must be rooted out and eliminated.

The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee has received the Florida State Attorney General’s report on the investigation of sexual abuse cases in the diocese. Of course, our first concern is for the victims of abuse, especially at the hands of clergy and other church personnel. Although it is painful to talk about this issue repeatedly, the suffering and pain from those who were abused are never-ending. We must never tire of assisting those who have been hurt.

List of those who have served at any time in ministry in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee and have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor or minors. https://ptdiocese.org/credibly-accused

Father Michael J. McGivney was beatified at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Conn. on October 31. The parish priest from the Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn. founded the lay fraternal Order of the Knights of Columbus in 1882 and died of pneumonia while ministering to the people of his community during the pandemic of 1890. The beatification follows the approval by Pope Francis in May of a miracle attributed to...