Bob Reddy, Staff Report
Bishop Emilio Biosca O.F.M. Cap. has appointed a new Vicar General who will assist the new Shepherd of the Diocese of Venice.
The bishop announced the appointment of Father David Vidal, pastor of Ave Maria Parish, Ave Maria, as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia to the Diocese on Thursday, August 20, 2026. Father Vidal was formally introduced to the Diocesan Curia (Venice Catholic Center staff) after a Mass at the Catholic Center on Aug. 25, 2026.
Bishop Emilio was joined at Mass by Father Vidal, Father Robert Dziadziak, the newly appointed Judicial Vicar, Father John Belmonte, SJ, Diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Education, Father Alex Pince, Diocesan Vocations Director, and Msgr. Patrick Dubois, Vicar Forane for the Northern Deanery.
The Mass was celebrated in the main conference room in Venice, held there because the Catholic Center’s Chapel is too small to accommodate the entire staff. During the Mass, the bishop explained the process he took to select a new Vicar General, as well as other key positions.
“I knew nothing about the Diocese of Venice when I was appointed and started doing research and reached out to the priests of the Diocese, giving them a survey of where they see the Diocese in three months, six months and a year,” Bishop Emilio said. “I was also seeking their input, whether in writing or through conversations, on who they thought would best fit in key positions.”
As Vicar General, Father Vidal is bestowed with all the duties and rights of a bishop; a Catholic vicar general is the highest administrative deputy appointed by a diocesan bishop to assist in the governance of the entire diocese. Father Vidal will work closely with Bishop Emilio and, as Moderator of the Curia, will manage the various offices and ministries of the Catholic Center. The role of Vicar General had been held by Msgr. Stephen E. McNamara, Pastor of Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord, Fort Myers, since 2010.
“Father Vidal will work closely with me and the chancellor in running the Diocese,” Bishop Emilio said. “He is very intelligent and well organized. He comes to us with great experience.”
That experience will be needed as the Diocese continues to grow, with some parishes needing new churches, while Catholic schools are at, or near, capacity. Father Vidal will also work closely with the Office of Vocations in support of the Diocesan seminarians, a job for which he is well suited. Father was an adjunct professor at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, College and Graduate programs, where he taught philosophy, and where many young seminarians begin their studies.
Father Vidal said he was very grateful to Bishop Emilio for the appointment to such an important role in the Diocese adding that he will take on the task of Vicar General with his “whole heart.”
“I am humbled by that and am asking for your prayers and your help,” Father Vidal said to the Curia staff, adding that he was the beneficiary of the work of the Diocesan staff while serving at a rural parish (Our Lady Queen of Heaven, Labelle), and at a larger parish (Ave Maria). “I know many of you have been of assistance to me and I am very grateful for it.”
Father Vidal also shared some of his background, including that he was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is one of seven children. Father Vidal’s two brothers are missionary priests and three of his sisters are nuns. A fourth sister, who inspired her siblings to religious life, Father Vidal shared, was a lay Carmelite, and Father Vidal noted that as such he had a special place in his heart for that religious order.
Father Vidal was ordained to the priesthood Aug. 9, 2001, in Buenos Aires, for another religious order, the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE). He holds degrees from Maria Madre del Verbo Encarnado Seminary, Argentina, and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a doctorate in philosophy. For IVE, Father served in the order’s House of Formation in Chillum, Maryland, and later as pastor at parishes in Chillum and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In the Diocese of Venice, Father Vidal first served as parochial vicar at Ave Maria Parish and then as administrator of Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish in LaBelle. Father was welcomed into the Presbyterate of the Diocese of Venice in 2023 and has been pastor of Ave Maria since 2021.
Welcome to the Catholic Center, Father Vidal!
