John Joseph Nevins
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Bishop John Joseph Nevins (January 19, 1932 – August 26, 2014) was an American prelate of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He served as an
auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...
of the
Archdiocese of Miami The Archdiocese of Miami (, , ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in South Florida in the United States. It is the metropolitan see for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, which ...
in Florida from 1979 to 1984 and as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Venice in Florida from 1984 until 2007.


Biography


Early life

John Nevins was born on January 19, 1932, in New Rochelle, New York. He received an early education from the
Irish Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...
, but was forced to transfer to a seminary for the
Fathers of Mercy The Fathers of Mercy, formally known as the Congregation of the Priests of Mercy (; abbreviated CPM), is a Catholic religious congregation of pontifical right of missionary priests founded by Jean-Baptiste Rauzan in early 19th-century France. ...
when the Irish Brothers disbanded. Nevins received a master's degree at
Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...
in New Orleans, then attended
Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...
in Washington, D.C. Nevins was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Miami on June 6, 1959 when he was 27 years old.


Auxiliary Bishop of Miami

On January 25, 1979, Nevins was appointed by
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
as auxiliary bishop of Miami and as titular bishop of Rusticiana. He was consecrated on March 24, 1979 by Archbishop
Edward A. McCarthy Edward Anthony McCarthy (April 10, 1918 – June 7, 2005) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami in Florida from 1977 to 1994. He previously served as bishop of the ...
, Bishop René Gracida, and Bishop John Fitzpatrick.


Bishop of Venice

On July 17, 1984, Nevins was appointed by John Paul II as the first bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida. Nevins was a member of the
Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre may refer to: * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), chivalric order belonging to the Holy See (the Roman Catholic Church) * Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Orthodox), chivalric ...
. In 1992, he sponsored a special collection to help
Croatians The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They also f ...
and
Bosnians Bosnians (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian: / ; / , / ) are people native to the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia. The term ''Bosnian'' refers to all inhabitants/citizens of the coun ...
who were suffering from the
Bosnia War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incidents, the war is commonly seen as ha ...
. In August 2003, three Florida siblings sued the diocese and Nevins alleging sexual molestation by William Romero, a former priest in the diocese. Between 1979 and 1982, while in an improper relationship with their mother, Romero sexually abused the three siblings in
Hobe Sound, Florida Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States, located along Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 13,163 at the 2020 census, up from 11,521 in 2010. Geography Hobe Sound ...
. In November 2005, a
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
man filed a lawsuit against Nevins and the diocese, claiming that he was sexually abused as a minor by George E. Brennan, a diocesan priest. The plaintiff claimed to have been sodomized in 1984 four times at Incarnation Catholic Church in Sarasota. The suit said that Nevins covered up the alleged crime. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Nevin's resignation as bishop on January 19, 2007. John Nevins died in Venice on August 26, 2014. The Bishop Nevins Academy in
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...
, is named after him.


Viewpoints


Gambling

Nevins opposed efforts in 1994 to amend the Florida State Constitution to allow casinos and
riverboat gambling A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to en ...
, concerned about the potential side effects on people who gambled.


Abortion

In a 1992
pastoral letter A pastoral letter, often simply called a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of a diocese or to both, containing general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circu ...
, "Reverence for God and the Human Person," Nevins condemned
abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their p ...
for women Although Americans "live in a pluralistic society," he said, there are not two standards of morality -- there is only one."


References

* ''Priests Renew Vows, Nevins: 'We're not perfect; Sarasota Herald-Tribune - March 27, 2002 * ''Marching to Orlando''; St. Petersburg Times - February 23, 2000 * ''Bishop Couldn't Offer Safety A Lawyer Argues That Bishop John Nevins Of The Catholic Diocese Of Venice Was Not Negligent''; Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - April 17, 1997 * ''Bishop apologizes for not taking enough action to protect victim''; Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) - June 19, 2002 * ''Bishop John Nevins of the Diocese of Venice receives Eternal Light Award Special to the Sun''; Charlotte Sun (Port Charlotte, FL) - February 22, 2004 * ''Division of Dioceses A Challenge''; Miami Herald, The (FL) - October 19, 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevins, John 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Venice in Florida Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Miami 1932 births 2014 deaths Religious leaders from New Rochelle, New York Catholics from New York (state) Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre