Bishop Emilio Biosca Agüero, O.F.M. Cap., has been the Shepherd of the Diocese of Venice for little more than one month. In that time, he has visited three dozen parishes and many missions.
As the rigorous schedule continues through the end of August, Bishop Emilio said the one thing that has surprised him about being a bishop is that so many people are praying for him.
“At each stop, people come up to me and say they are praying for me,” Bishop Emilio said during an Aug. 12, 2026, visit to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Venice. “I feel those prayers. They mean so much to me. It is hard to describe the effect and strength those prayers are giving me as I move forward in my duties as the shepherd of the diocese.”
Between Aug. 6 and 12, Bishop Emilio visited 10 parishes, and five missions, primarily in the eastern part of the Diocese. Visits have included the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as well as small meetings with parish staff and volunteers, and often personal time with the priests.
The intention of this tour of the diocese is to visit the priests, deacons, religious and faithful at their parishes to get to know them in their own place, before Bishop Emilio goes to Rome for a new bishops’ formation course and retreat in early September.
Bishop Emilio said he will take the prayers and hopes of the people of the Diocese to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul in early September.
The tour is a quick way for the bishop to get a “lay of the land,” and a first missionary orientation to the Diocese. A visit to each school will follow in late September and October.
During a stop at St. Michael Parish in Wauchula, Bishop Emilio said that in all of his assignments as a Capuchin priest, first in Papua New Guinea, then Cuba, and at a parish in Washington, D.C., he entered each with goal of giving himself completely to the place.
“At each stop, I went to go to stay forever,” he explained. “So, this is a fact-finding tour as I try to learn everything I can about each parish, which I am finding are all unique, as well as getting to know the priests. I do this because I am giving myself completely to the Diocese, in my heart and in my soul.”
Upcoming parish visits include the following: (Aug. 14) Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, and St. Jude; (Aug. 15) St. Thomas More, Sarasota, and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Parrish; (Aug. 16), Church of St. Patrick, Sarasota, and Holy Cross, Palmetto; (Aug. 17) St. John XXIII, Fort Myers; (Aug. 18) St. Francis Xavier, Fort Myers, and St. Raphael, Lehigh Acres; and (Aug. 19) St. Charles Borromeo and San Antonio, Port Charlotte.
Please check with the local parish for a schedule of public events.
