Joseph Keith Symons
Joseph Keith Symons | |
|---|---|
| Bishop Emeritus of Palm Beach | |
| Diocese | Palm Beach |
| Appointed | June 12, 1990 |
| Installed | July 31, 1990 |
| Retired | June 2, 1998 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Vose Daily |
| Successor | Anthony O'Connell |
| Previous post(s) |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 18, 1958 by Joseph Patrick Hurley |
| Consecration | March 19, 1981 by William Thomas Larkin, Edward A. McCarthy, and Thomas Joseph McDonough |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 14, 1932 |
| Styles of Joseph Keith Symons | |
|---|---|
| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Bishop |
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Joseph Keith Symons (born October 14, 1932) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Symons served as bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida from 1990 to 1998. Previously, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida for several months in 1981, then was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida in October 1981.
In 1998, Symons tendered his resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach to Pope John Paul II, after publicly admitting that he had sexually abused five boys earlier in his career. Symons then became the first US Catholic bishop to lose his position over the sexual abuse of minors. His successor as bishop of Palm Beach, Anthony O'Connell, was also forced to resign in 2002 after admitting to sexually abusing underage boys.