Gregory Parkes

Gregory Lawrence Parkes (born April 2, 1964) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Parkes has been serving as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida since 2017. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida from 2012 to 2016. He is the tallest bishop in the United States at 6’8”.^[1] His brother Stephen Parkes is bishop of the Diocese of Savannah; they are one of only 11 pairs of sibling-bishops in U.S. Catholic history.^[2] In June 2022, he had his right leg amputated below the knee after years of treatment were unsuccessful.^[3] In September he reported he was able to drive and walk unassisted again and was able to live independently, on his way to resuming a normal ministry schedule.^[4]

Bishop Parkes was born on April 2, 1964, in Mineola, New York. For primary school, he attended St. Rose of Lima School in Massapequa, New York. He graduated from Massapequa High School and attended Daytona Beach Community College in Daytona, Beach, Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Finance degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and worked in banking in Tampa for seven years.^[5][6]

Bishop Parkes heard God's call to the priesthood as a parishioner at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa.^[7] He studied for the priesthood at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. In 1996, Parkes entered the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he received a Graduate Bachelor of Theology degree in 1998 and a Licentiate in Canon Law in 2000.^[8][5][9]

On June 26, 1999, Bishop Parkes was ordained a priest at Saint James Cathedral in Orland for the Diocese of Orlando by Bishop Norbert Dorsey.^[10][11]

After his 1999 ordination, the diocese assigned Bishop Parkes as the parochial vicar of Holy Family Parish in Orlando. He was transferred in 2005 to become the founding pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Celebration, Florida. That same year, Bishop Thomas Wenski appointed Bishop Parkes as chancellor of the diocese. He also became its vicar general in 2009.^[8]

On March 20, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Parkes as the fifth bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Parkes attended his first Ad Limina meeting with the pope at the Vatican prior to his consecration. Parkes was installed and consecrated on June 5, 2012, at St. Paul's Church in Pensacola, Florida. Archbishop Thomas Wenski was the consecrating prelate. Bishops John Noonan and Felipe Estévez were the co-consecrators.^[10]

In March 2015, Bishop Parkes led a public procession on one of the holiest days on the Church calendar, Palm Sunday. He helped carry a large wooden cross through public streets in Gulf Breeze. The procession stopped along the way to observe the Stations of the Cross.^[12]

In October 2015, Bishop Parkes authorized a petition for Pope Francis to canonize 86 Native Americans, priests, religious lay brothers, and men, women and children known as Martyrs of La Florida who died defending their Catholic faith.^[13] A month later, Bishop Parkes presented the petition to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which subsequently endorsed the petition as well.^[14] In October 2023, that petition advanced from the diocese to the Vatican, where officials will determine if the individuals named in the petition qualify as martyrs, a prerequisite for their beatification.^[15]

In May 2016, a group of parents protested the appointment of Reverend Roy C Marien as principal of John Paul II Catholic High School in Tallahassee, Florida. The parents objected to several teen novels authored by Marien that they felt were sexually explicit. In response, Bishop Parkes cited Marien’s excellent record as a pastor and school administrator.^[16]

On November 28, 2016, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Parkes as bishop of St. Petersburg, succeeding Bishop Robert Lynch.^[17][10] Parkes was installed at the Cathedral of Saint Jude the Apostle in St. Petersburg on January 4, 2017. For his pastoral motto, Parkes chose “To your name give the glory” from Psalm 115, Verse 1.^[6] On November 14, 2018, Parkes was elected treasurer of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), serving in that role from 2019-2022.^[6]

In 2018, Bishop Parkes led the diocese in hosting a listening session, a day-long workshop and a series of civil dialogues where local Catholics could discuss how racism is impacting their lives in the Church and the community. Bishop Shelton Fabre, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad-Hoc Committee Against Racism, was also present for the listening session.^[18]

Parkes attended his second ad limina visit to the Vatican in 2019. While Francis met with Parkes, the pope noticed Parkes' 6'8" height and asked if he ever played basketball. Parkes started a "View from the Top" podcast, giving an overview of the diocese, and his "Invitation to Worship" podcast, giving a quick overview of the weekly reading.

In May 2021, Bishop Parkes blessed the new altar and celebrated Mass at a new parish, the first of its kind for Vietnamese Catholics in Tampa. ^[19]

Bishop Parkes has led the diocese through some of the most severe hurricanes to hit the Tampa Bay area in modern history. In September 2023, he presented Catholic Charities with a donation of $100,000 to respond to the victims of Hurricane Idalia within the diocese’s five-county area.^[20] In November 2024, he presented another $300,000 donation to Catholic Charities in response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.^[21]

Bishop Parkes instituted the diocese’s first-ever Parental Leave Policy on January 22, 2024.  The benefit provides eight weeks of paid parental leave for all diocesan employees who qualify. The policy was announced with the title “Forming the Family in Faith,” and emphasized a commitment to valuing the gift of life and fortifying families. ^[22]

In response to the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report released in August 2018, Parkes issued a statement that he encouraged to be read at Mass the following Sunday, asking forgiveness on behalf of fellow clergy who had not protected children. He also directed diocesan officials to launch an accountability website detailing the safeguards the diocese put in place for those working with children and vulnerable adults, such as background screening and fingerprinting. The website links to a list of priests and lay employees of the diocese who have been credibly accused of abuse.^[23]

On October 17, 2018, Parkes and the diocese were named in a sexual abuse lawsuit by Mark Cattell, a Virginia resident. Cattell alleged that, at age nine, he had been abused in 1981 by Reverend Robert D. Huneke from Christ the King Parish in Tampa. In 1980, Huneke had sent a letter to the Bishop of Rockville Centre in New York, saying he had abused a boy named John Salveson years earlier in New York. On August 7, 1981, Salveson, now an adult, had written Bishop William Larkin,then Bishop of St. Petersburg about Huneke. Despite Salveson's complaints, the diocese did not removed Huneke from ministry until 1982.^[24] The Diocese of St. Petersburg and Bishop Parkes defended against this action, and it was ultimately dismissed on March 29, 2019 by agreement of the parties.^[25]

In 2018, the Diocese of St. Petersburg celebrated its Golden Jubilee. In honor of the anniversary, Bishop Parkes led a three-year vision plan titled "Courageously Living the Gospel" focusing on evangelization, alleviating social and economic hardships and meeting the spiritual needs of youth and young adults.^[26]

As the plan has come to fruition over the years, Bishop Parkes has blessed a number of new facilities and programs focused specifically on affordable housing and shelter for the unhoused, including Catholic Charities’ first shelter in Citrus County in 2018,^[27] affordable housing in Crystal River in 2023,^[28] a shelter that allows male heads of households in Pasco County^[29] and a new permanent supportive housing project associated with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in New Port Richey in 2021.^[30] He also blessed a new facility at BayCare Medical Respite Program located at Pinellas Hope. St. Anthony’s Hospital, a local Catholic hospital and part of the BayCare system, oversees the Medical Respite Program.^[31]

Inspired by the vision Bishop Parkes cast for the diocese, ten parishes in central Pinellas County began collaborating on a new counseling services program that offers professional mental health services for both Catholics and non-Catholics in the community.^[32]

• Diocese of Saint Petersburg Official Site