Office of the Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer

The Chancellor/COO supervises the Chancery directors and fields all calls coming into the Chancery that require canonical, pastoral and theological intervention, including matters of great sensitivity.  The Chancellor/COO mediates grievances at both the diocesan and parish level.  The Chancellor/COO serves as advisor to the bishop by identifying, analyzing, and discussing diocesan issues and providing recommendations to the Bishop regarding disposition of such issues.

The Chancellor/COO participates in the annual planning, prioritizing and budgeting process for Chancery services and programs and is responsible for overseeing all archival, records and information management functions and assuring the appropriate disposition of the historic, cultural and artistic patrimony of the Diocese of Knoxville. The Chancellor/COO is responsible for authenticating the official acts of the Bishop and for signing, verifying and/or witnessing all official acts of the Curia.

The Chancellor/COO takes care that acts of the curia are gathered, arranged, and safeguarded in the archive of the curia.  He acts as Ecclesiastical Notary in both civil and canon law issues and signs curial acts which have juridic effect.  The Chancellor/COO writes acts and instruments regarding decrees, dispositions, obligations, or other tasks required of him; to record faithfully in writing what has taken place and sign the record with a notation of the place, day, month and year; with due consideration of all requirements, to furnish acts or instruments to one legitimately requesting them from files and to declare copies of them to be in conformity with the original-

The Chancellor/COO serves as Ex officio member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Diocesan Finance Council. Finally, the Chancellor/COO oversees the process regarding official diocesan reports. This includes coordinating the compilation of the Parish Annual Reports, the Annual General Statistical Questionnaire, the Quinquennial Report and The Official Catholic Directory.