Family Day in Wauchula
The 2022 St. Michael Parish Family Day on Nov. 12, 2022, in Wauchula, welcomed more than 130 families (over 250 participants to include parents and their children) for a beautiful day filled with guest speakers about parenting, a young adult guest speaker, and children learning about the Eucharist and how to have a stronger relationship with Jesus. There were family games and raffles. The day ended with a Eucharistic Procession and Holy Mass, and dinner. The day focused on prayer for the conversion of all, that they may seek God in the Eucharist to guide them as a united family.
Naples Scout recognized
Luke P. Rubino, a senior at Naples High School and St. Ann Catholic School Class of 2019, achieved Eagle Rank from the Boy Scouts of America-Southwest Florida Council/Alligator District with Troop 165, now affiliated with St. Ann Parish in Naples. Luke was also awarded the Good Citizenship Award presented by the Marine Corps League (E.T. Brisson Detachment #063) of Naples on Nov. 13, 2022, in the Parish Hall.
New altar servers blessed
Father Luis Pacheco, Pastor of St. Paul Parish in Arcadia, recently welcomed and blessed a new group of altar servers. The blessing took place Nov. 13, 2022, for the boys and girls who completed a training program. These servers will now be able to serve at Masses each week.
Naples students build bikes
More than 30 St. John Neumann Catholic High School students came together with Key and Kiwanis clubs from around the county to build bikes with the Bikes for Tykes Organization at Palmetto Ridge High School in Naples on Nov. 12, 2022. Students worked in teams of two assembling new bikes that were donated to local families. During the event, some of the students entertained the waiting children with face painting and games.
Fort Myers robotics team gains experience
The Bishop Verot Catholic High School robotics program hosted two local robotics teams to work on their designs and programming in Fort Myers on Nov. 5, 2022. The “Java the Hutt” team was incredibly helpful, as they brought their robot and helped the Verot teams get their bots built and programmed to move. The students learned about the latest version of a competition robot. The Cypress Lake team shared ideas and were instrumental in getting a playing field constructed, while advising about which materials to purchase and use to help construct future Verot robots. Events like this are vital to the growth of robotics in Southwest Florida.
Thanksgiving festival delights children
St. Martha Catholic School National Junior Honor Society hosted a Thanksgiving Festival for students in kindergarten through second grade in Sarasota on Nov. 14, 2022. The students decorated their own cookies, colored placemats, created turkeys, wrote what they are thankful for, played Thanksgiving Bingo and completed Thanksgiving Math.
This was the 18th Annual Hispanic Festival and an estimated 12,000 people descended on the Parish for this return event following a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Celestino Gutierrez, Pastor of St. Jude, officially opened the Hispanic Festival with a prayer. This followed a “Parade of Flags” when each country represented at the festival was announced, and the respective flags brought forth cheers from the crowd.
Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School junior Addison Dempsey took the silver medal in the Class 2A girls Florida High School Athletic Association Cross Country State Championship on Nov. 5, 2022, in Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. Dempsey crossed the 5,000-meter (or 3.1 mile) race in 17:54, just 11 seconds behind the winner. The Mooney girls’ team came in 25th overall, with Kate Ruaona placing 11th. The Sarasota boys finished in 20th, with the top runner, Christian Kline placing 37th. At the same event, the Bishop Verot Catholic High School runners from Fort Myers also participated, with sophomore Mackenzie De Lisle placing fifth. The boy’s team took fifth place overall, with the top runner, Grayson Tubbs, placing 16th. Congratulations everyone!
The Veterans of Foreign War Golden Gate Post 7721 visited St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School in Naples on Nov. 4, 2022, to teach the eighth graders how to properly fold the American flag in advance of the school’s Veterans Day Tribute on Nov. 11.
Fourth grade science students at St. Martha Catholic School in Sarasota learned all about Thermal Energy the week of Nov. 1, 2022. The students each constructed their own solar oven and placed the components for s’mores in them before bringing them outside to cook. The result: the ovens worked, and everyone had a delicious snack created in their own oven!
A fun time was had during “Silly String” festivities at St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton on Nov. 4, 2022. The fun was a follow-up celebration to the successful annual Eagle Run fundraiser held earlier in the month. The seventh-grade class, which had great success during the Eagle Run, also celebrated with a McDonald’s party.
With its roots in German, Halloween (Hallow’s Eve) actually translates to Holy/Saints Evening, or evening of All Saints’ Day.
On Oct. 28, the St. Joseph second graders visited a nearby assisted living facility. In addition to trick-or-treating, the students performed Halloween poetry and songs for the residents. That same night, the school and Parish hosted a Truck-or-Treat where families went all out to come up with different themes.
Incarnation Parish in Sarasota offered the veneration of First Class Relics in between each Mass on the vigil and solemnity. On display at the Parish were relics from St. Catherine of Siena, St. Dominic, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. John of the Cross, St. Faustina, St. Francis of Assisi and many more. The idea for this grew from a spring tour of the “Relics of the Vatican” which drew great interest.
These sessions were part of the Diocesan Phase of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” as requested by His Holiness Pope Francis.
Overall, more than 1,000 of the faithful participated in the synodal process, including both young and old, women and men, English and Spanish-speaking. Findings were compiled in a detailed report shared with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in June. Similar sessions to those held in the Diocese of Venice were held around the country and around the globe; a synthesis of all Diocesan reports will be shared with the Vatican.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane presided over the Admission to Candidacy of 14 seminarians at Pope St. John XXIII Seminary, in Weston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 26, 2022. Among those admitted to candidacy was Diocese of Venice Seminarian Carlos Galeso. Each of the seminarians have been approved by their respective Bishops and will continue in their studies to become Catholic priests. Each man publicly expressed his intention to complete his preparation for Holy Orders and his resolve to fully invest himself to that calling.
The Incarnation Catholic School middle schoolers took part in a Science Fair in Sarasota on Oct. 28, 2022. The students did an amazing job impressing the judges, teachers and each other. Each student, or team, did various experiments and documented their results, including the purpose of the project, a hypothesis, materials and procedures to conduct the experiment, data collected and the results. This was all displayed, including various graphs and images, to be judged and available for others to learn.
St. Paul Parish in Arcadia celebrated World Mission Sunday, on Oct. 23, 2022, with a procession of children wearing traditional clothing representing the different regions of the world. The children then sat on the steps of the altar while World Mission Sunday was explained. World Mission Sunday is celebrated in all the local Churches as the feast of Catholicity and universal solidarity so Christians the world over will recognize their common responsibility with regard to the evangelization of the world.
A long strip of the high-pitched roof of St. Columbkille Parish in Fort Myers was peeled off during Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28, 2022. This and other roof damage caused by the winds allowed water to enter into the church, causing extensive damage in the narthex, chapel and main sanctuary. Contractors for the Diocese were able to place sealing tarps over the holes in the roof by Oct. 10 which will be in place until repairs can take place preventing any further damage.
Members of the Knights of Columbus from multiple Councils converged on Jesus the Worker Parish in Fort Myers Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, to host a cookout for the Fort Myers community which was hard hit by Hurricane Ian. Many parishioners lost homes while others lost work. The Knights grilled up more than 1,000 hamburgers and hot dogs so everyone had a hearty meal. Whatever food that was leftover was sent home with the parishioners.
The Knights were primarily from Collier County, including from Parishes such as Ave Maria, St. William, St. Agnes, St. John the Evangelist and St. Elizabeth Seton as well as others representing the Knights Florida State Council. Father Patrick O’Connor, Oblates of St. Frances de Sales, said the food was greatly appreciated by the many families at this Spanish-speaking Parish. Many were hit doubly hard by the storm with home damage and those in the service industry being thrown out of work for an unknown length of time.
St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School students in Naples enjoyed a Latin Fiesta Oct. 13, 2022. This was a special day to celebrate the Latin culture with food, dance, music and more. Students experienced the Latin culture through a Folklore Dance Presentation and Zumba class and was such a fun and educational event for the school.
The “Gifts of the Holy Spirit” is the theme for the latest in a series of courses in the Diocese Faith Formation Program in Spanish. The series of seven classes takes place at different Parishes from early October 2022 through early March 2023. Each region of the Diocese is divided into zones to allow greater access to the classes which are held on Friday nights (and switch to Thursday nights during Lent). Those who register and attend a minimum of six classes will receive a Diocesan Certification. This is the fifth such course that has been offered within the Diocese of the Spanish-speaking community in the past several years. To learn more about the Hispanic Apostolate of the Diocese, please visit 
Sixth grade science students at St. Martha Catholic School in Sarasota met the “Landform Island Challenge” head-on and did an amazing job on Oct. 14, 2022. For the challenge, the students had to build an island of landforms out of salt dough to demonstrate knowledge of landforms and how they are created, including: a mountain, valley, volcano, plateau, coastline, barrier islands, cape, lake, river with a delta, bay, and sound. The results were impressive!
Congratulations to Epiphany Cathedral Catholic School student Connor Bogue, fifth grade, who won the City of Venice’s annual Florida City Government Week poster contest at his school. Students drew to the theme, “My City, I’m Part of It, I’m Proud of It.” Connor won a pizza party for his class on Oct. 18, 2022, and received a framed certificate from City Public Information Officer Lorraine Anderson. His colorful artwork will also be installed at City Hall. Well done!
Bishop Dewane celebrated Mass on Oct. 8, 2022, at St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Cape Coral, a region hard hit by Ian’s harsh winds and storm surge. Many, 13 days after the storm, still had no power in their homes.
Immediately following the passage of Ian, Bishop Dewane began to visit the sites of destruction caused by the hurricane. It was on Oct. 6, 2022, when he was able to visit the hard-hit communities in Desoto and Hardee counties. Access to these areas was extremely limited by river flooding and the areas were under ongoing states of emergency.
During his visit, Bishop Dewane spoke to families and offered several blessings for healing as they continued to suffer from the storm that had finally passed.
This outreach has been made possible by the direction of CEO Eddie Gloria, his team, volunteers and the guidance of Bishop Frank J. Dewane.
Catholic Charities USA President and CEO, Sister Donna Markham, OP, visited the Diocese of Venice on Oct. 12, 2022, to get an update on how the response is progressing.
“Now it is your turn,” Sister said. “We are here with the enormous generosity of a lot of people, who have helped us by sending in donations (through the CCUSA website). We take every single dollar from our donors and ensure they will go directly to the people affected by a disaster. In this case, in what I hope will be more to come, is an initial check for humanitarian relief in the amount of $500,000.”
Arcadia was a site of total devastation. Many homes were damaged or destroyed by the fierce winds of Ian, but it was the flooding from the Peace River, which lazily flows through the western portion of the area that brought more destruction. The river rose to record levels and cut the city in half, that did most of the destruction.
This is why the front parking lot of the Parish church, which sits on State Road 70, the main east-west road through the rural city, was a hive of activity as churches of all denominations brought clothing and emergency supplies for people to choose from.
On the back side of the Parish church is the Catholic Charities disaster distribution site, which includes water, food, sunscreen, batteries, blankets, tarps, cleaning supplies and more. Trucks from all over resupply the site each day as the demand continues.
