UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record
Summary of Case: A Michigan native, Joseph Keith Symons was ordained in 1958 for the St. Augustine diocese, where he became a member of the diocesan Tribunal and an Episcopal Vicar. Symons was known for recruiting young people to the church and for his progressive outreach programs. He directed several camps for children, one of which he had founded. When the diocese split in 1968, Symons ministered for the diocese of St. Petersburg. He held numerous chancery positions in his new diocese. While serving as St. Petersburg’s Chancellor in the early 1970s, he accepted into the diocese a known perpetrator of sexual abuse of children; Symons quietly left cash for the mother of two of that priest’s victims when she confronted him years later. He denied knowing the priest was a perpetrator. Symons was elevated to Auxiliary Bishop in 1981, and was appointed Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee in 1983. In 1990 he became Bishop of Palm Beach. In 1995 Symons admitted to having sexually abused a boy years earlier, after the victim came forward; Symons said he this was his only victim and was allowed to remain in ministry. Another man disclosed sexual abuse as a child by Symons in 1998. Symons resigned several days later and admitted to having sexually abused five boys early in his career. Bishop Symons returned to his home state of Michigan where he lived in a convent and led adult spiritual retreats.
Ordained: 1958
Ordained bishop: March 19, 1981.
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