2nd Florida Bishop Accused Of Abuse

A second Florida bishop has been accused of sexual misconduct but said Friday the allegations against him were unsubstantiated.

The claim comes just a week after a West Palm Beach bishop confessed to inappropriately touching a teen-ager more than two decades ago.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch, head of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, denied the allegation by a former head of communications for the diocese.

Lynch, at a Friday press conference, said the allegations were investigated by the diocese and were unsubstantiated.

"The investigation concluded that the substance of the allegation were unfounded," Lynch said.

Bill Urbanski, 42, worked four-and-a-half years as director of communications for the five-county diocese.

Lynch said he was very close professionally and personally to Urbanski and his wife and children. He said last August was the first time any complaint was made.

He said there was no prior complaints made against him.

"I have faithfully and fully lived the celibate vow since the day of ordination," Lynch said.

He said the accusation was a misperception on Urbanski's part.

Joseph DiVito, an attorney for the diocese, said the allegations concerned traveling with the bishop and sharing a room on occasion. He said they never shared a bed and had separate living quarters.

"Mr. Urbanski's perceptions were very real," DiVito said. "The bishop was not aware of that. He felt very comfortable in his presence."

Lynch said he learned on Wednesday that a media outlet had the story and planned to go public with it during the weekend.

The Diocese of St. Petersburg has more than 365,000 members.

The case is the latest allegation of sexual impropriety to surface against the church because of the sex-abuse scandal that began in Boston and has rippled through the rest of the country.

Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell resigned from the Diocese of Palm Beach two weeks ago after admitting he sexually abused a former seminarian in the 1970s. He is the highest-ranking clergyman to resign or be removed.

Another man has sued church officials over allegations of sexual exploitation by O'Connell at a Missouri seminary from 1967 to 1971. The name of the 47-year-old accuser, who lives in Minnesota, has not been made public.

A lawyer was announcing a lawsuit Friday against O'Connell and the three dioceses in which he worked — Jefferson City, Mo., Knoxville, Tenn., and Palm Beach — under powerful federal racketeering laws. Such a lawsuit against priests has never been successful.

Lynch was installed as bishop in January 1996. He served as apostolic administrator in the Diocese of Palm Beach in 1998 when Bishop J. Keith Symons stepped down in the wake of a sex scandal. Symons became the first U.S. bishop to resign due to sexual involvement with boys.

He said in August 2001 he learned Urbanski perceived his actions as harassment. Lynch said Urbanski perceived there was "sexual harassment" made during trips.