Mineola Native Named Bishop of Pensacola

A Mineola native priest has just been named as bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee by Pope Benedict XVI.

Father Gregory L. Parkes, 48, was born in Mineola but attended in Massapequa as well as and even worked as a banker prior to entering the seminary. Besides having been born in Mineola, he shares another connection to the Long Island village as he has served as pastor of another Corpus Christi Catholic Church – albeit in Celebration, FL – since 2005.

Parkes was ordained as a priest in 1999.

“When I spoke with Archbishop Viganò, the Papal Nuncio, who informed me of the Holy Father’s appointment, I was at a loss for words,” Parkes said in a statement. “I have always believed that my call and vocation was to be a parish priest, and while I’ve been blessed in my priesthood to be given various diocesan responsibilities, it has been in my parish assignments - that I have found the greatest joy and fulfillment. To the parishioners of these two parishes, and to all the faithful in the Diocese of Orlando that I’ve been blessed to serve, I express my sincere gratitude for their love, prayers, and support which have helped to make me the priest that I am today.”

According to a press release on the the Pensacola-Tallahassee website, Parkes attended St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beachfrom 1993-1996 and the Pontifical North American College in the Vatican City State from 1996-2000. He holds a Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University (1998) and a Canon Law (J.C.L.) degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University (2000).