Leadership Team

OUR BISHOP

Gregory L. Parkes
Pope Benedict XVI has named 48-year-old Father Gregory L. Parkes of the clergy of the Diocese of Orlando as bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Bishop-elect Parkes has served the Orlando diocese as Vicar General and Chancellor for Canonical Affairs and as the pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Celebration, Florida.
The appointment was publicized in Washington March 20, 2012 by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano’, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Gregory L. Parkes was born in Mineola, NY. He attended St. Rose of Lima School in Massapequa, NY, Massapequa High School and Daytona Beach Community College before earning a bachelor’s degree in finance from Florida State University. Prior to entering the seminary he worked in the banking industry in Tampa, Florida. He attended St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida from 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). He was ordained a priest of the Orlando diocese by Bishop Norbert Dorsey on June 26, 1999.

Assignments after ordination included parochial vicar, Holy Family Catholic Church, Orlando from 2000-2004 and parochial administrator and pastor of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Celebration, Florida, from 2005-present.

In addition to serving as vicar general and chancellor for canonical affairs for the Orlando diocese, Bishop-elect Parkes has also served at the diocesan level on the College of Consultors, the Finance Committee, the Priest Placement Board, the Presbyteral Council, and the Incardination Committee. He serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who has served the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee as apostolic administrator since the retirement of Bishop John H. Ricard in March 2011 due to health reasons, said of Bishop-elect Parkes, “Bishop-elect Parkes served me well in a variety of capacities when I was the Bishop of Orlando. The Holy Father has made an excellent choice in Bishop-elect Parkes, he is a good priest and a holy man. I am confident that he will serve the people of Pensacola-Tallahassee well whom I have grown very fond of during my year as their Apostolic Administrator. As Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Miami, I look forward to Bishop-elect Parkes’ future ministry here in Florida as a successor to the Apostles.”

Our Bishop Emeritus
Most Rev. John H. Ricard was born February 29, 1940, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and upon completion of high school entered the Josephite College Seminary in Newburgh, New York. He completed his theological training at St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C., and was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 1968, a member of the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart (S.S.J.). After ordination, Bishop Ricard continued his studies, earning a master’s degree from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1970 and a doctoral degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1984. He served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Washington from the time of his ordination to the priesthood until he was named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Bishop Ricard moved to Pensacola from the Archdiocese of Baltimore where he served as auxiliary bishop from the time of his ordination as a bishop on July 2, 1984.
In addition to serving as the shepherd for the diocese’s Catholics, Bishop Ricard has served in national and international roles within the Catholic Church. He traveled on frequent peace-building missions abroad, notably to Bosnia, North Korea and to many of the nations of Africa, as the president and later a board member of Catholic Relief Services (1995 to 2002), the church’s international agency devoted to promoting human development by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies. Bishop Ricard also served as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace (2002 to 2005). He serves on the board of trustees of the National Black Catholic Congress. He has served as chairman of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for the Church in Africa (2006 to 2011).
Bishop Ricard suffered a stroke on Dec. 22, 2009 and had subsequent surgeries to correct complications from the stroke. His retirement due to health reasons was granted by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, on March 11, 2011.

LET NOTHING BE DONE WITHOUT THE BISHOP

“See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude[of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.”

Executive Director
Mark Dufva

Mark Dufva began his career as Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida on September 18, 2004, two days after the 4th worst disaster in US history, Hurricane Ivan. Ten months later Hurricane Dennis hit the same region, immediately followed by Hurricane Katrina. The storms of 2004/2005 provided Catholic Charities an unprecedented opportunity to become a leader in rebuilding and revitalizing communities in Northwest Florida, leading to the creation of an Interfaith Housing Coalition to address the crisis of affordable housing.

Mark is based in Pensacola and oversees four Catholic Charities regional offices spread across 18 mostly rural counties and 14,000 sq. miles comprising the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Prior to taking over as Executive Director of Catholic Charities, Mark served as Executive Director of Youth Opportunity with the Tampa YMCA, a 5-year, $24M US Department of Labor education and job training program. He spent seven years with the United Way in Tampa as Director of Community Services and was responsible for developing their outcome funding systems. He also spent five years with the Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Boston, MA and began his human service career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines from 1984-1987.

He has a BS from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Human Services from Springfield College, where he has also enjoyed part-time teaching as Adjunct Faculty teaching Program Evaluation, Staffing and Supervision, Grant writing and Fundraising. Mark is married to a beautiful Filipina with three lovely multi-ethnic children.

 
Director of Development & Marketing
Patricia Angel Butler

Patricia Angel Butler has called Pensacola home since 2003. She grew up in Houston, TX and graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in English in 1991. She has enjoyed a very fruitful career in sales that spanned several industries. She joined Catholic Charities in 2013 and she brings a wide variety of skills and experiences to her position as Director of Development and Marketing.

 
Director of Finance & Administration
Kimberly Sparks

Kimberly has been employed with Catholic Charities for one year.  Kimberly has her Bachelor of Science  degree in accounting and a Master of Science degree in management from Troy University.  With ten years of  non profit experience, Kimberly brings a wealth of  strong grant accounting expertise to the organization. She has an accomplished track record with accumlated strengths in the medical and banking industries; where for 20+ years she served in such roles as clinical office manager, credit analyst and senior accountant.  She also has experience serving abroad as a teacher and translator in Tokyo for IBM.  Kim grew up in Pensacola, attending St. John’s and Pensacola High.  She has 2 children and 2 grandchildren.

 

Director of Parish Social Ministries

 

 

Regional Director – Pensacola
Lindsey Cannon
Lindsey Berling Cannon, originally from Panama City, Florida, received her Bachelor Degree in Psychology from The Florida State University in 1999.  She then went on to the University of South Florida where she received a dual Master Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling in 2003.  Lindsey has since lived throughout the state working primarily with foster families, foster children and adoption programs.  She has also spent many years working specifically with runaway and homeless youth prior to coming to Catholic Charities as the Regional Director in September 2011.  Lindsey has been married to her husband Neal Cannon since March, 2011 and is a proud mama to William Cannon, born on November 13, 2012.

Regional Director – Ft. Walton Beach
Ann Imburgio
Ann Imburgio has been with Catholic Charities for over five years.  She has been the License Mental Health Counselor for the Fort Walton Beach office, providing professional, caring counseling services to the community.  Just recently, Ann, stepping up to the challenge, took on the position as the Regional Director. Prior to Catholic Charities, Ann worked at Ft. Walton Beach Medical Center for 3 years as their Dual Therapist (Substance Abuse & Mental Health), had her own private practice for a period of time, and work at numerous local counseling facilities over the years.  She is the wife of retired Air Force officer Thomas Imburgio, mother of 2 daughters Veronica and Karolina, and the happy “Nana” to her adorable grandson Zac.

 

Regional Director – Panama City
Diane Williams

Diane was born and raised in Bessemer, Alabama. Diane attended LSU and the University of Alabama, where she received a BA in sociology with a minor in English.  She earned a M.A in general counseling (summa cum laude), and completed additional post-master’s courses with an emphasis on substance abuse counseling at South Dakota State University.

During over 25 years as an Air Force spouse/family, Diane was fortunate to experience life and cultures in different parts of the country and overseas.

She eventually settled in made Panama City, where she worked for 4 years at Chemical Addictions Recovery Effort (CARE) as a prevention specialist. Diane later accepted a position with Catholic Charities as an adoption counselor. This soon led to her 11 year history with Catholic Charities where she now serves as the regional director.

Diane currently serves on the board of directors for the Northwest Florida Homeless and Hunger Coalition; she is a member of the PC mayor’s task force researching the possibility of a local community resource center (CRC), and a member of St. John the Evangelist Church. She has two grown sons, Luke and Justin.

Regional Director – Tallahassee

Angel Steadman
Angel Steadman joined Catholic Charities as the Regional Director of the Tallahassee office in September 2010. Angel has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Alabama and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Alabama. Angel worked for Catholic Social Services for the Diocese of Birmingham for seven years leading the Tuscaloosa and Gadsden Regions – overseeing both the Centers of Concern and Catholic Family Services.  Prior to this, Angel worked in the Foster Care system for five years in the Mobile and Birmingham area recruiting and training therapeutic foster parents and supervising case workers.  Angel is a native of Mobile, Alabama and returns often to spend time with her family but loves her new Tallahassee community.

Kelly Humphrey
Kelly Humphrey is the director of marketing and development for the Fort Walton Beach regional office. Prior to joining Catholic Charities in May, she worked for more than 15 years as a journalist for numerous newspapers and magazines, ultimately serving as a columnist, staff writer and editor at the Northwest Florida Daily News, and as the general manager at the Crestview News Bulletin. Kidney failure forced her to stop working in 2008, but in 2010 she received a life-saving kidney transplant. She and her husband, John, have one son, Joey. They make their home near Niceville.

Brunie Emmanuel
Brunie Emmanuel is a facilitator of change with an MA in Counseling & Human Development. He has a wide experience of clinical and administrative responsibilities over several decades. He is currently Project Manager for two initiatives of Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida through which he is able to grant and funds to organizations along the 8-county northern Gulf coast to build up the social service infrastructure to support individuals and families adversely affected by the Deep Water Oil Spill. Brunie is an active member of many Boards & organizations in the “Panhandle” region of Florida.

Krista Clark