Bishop Frank J. Dewane led the Act of Consecration from Epiphany Cathedral in Venice, on March 25, 2022, as a “gesture of the Universal Church” to invoke an end to the violence and suffering of the innocents during the war in Ukraine.
Pope Francis wrote to all the Bishops in the world, asking them to join him in offering “a solemn Act of Consecration of humanity, and Russia and Ukraine in particular, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” The Act of Consecration took place on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, when the Angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive and bear “the Son of the Most High” through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In a nearly full Cathedral, including students from Epiphany Cathedral Catholic School, Bishop Dewane remarked how important it was that the faithful gather “as a people of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, in response to the Holy Father. We gather to pray for the conflict going on in the Ukraine and the suffering that has been inflicted upon the people of Ukraine. It is a Consecration of humanity, as the Holy Father put it – in particular for those in Russia and Ukraine. This is a gesture of not just the Pope, Bishops, or priests, but of the Universal Church.”
The Act of Consecration began at noon, to coincide with the prayers in Rome of the Holy Father. The Diocesan prayer service was livestreamed and available on the Cathedral website and on social media (also available at www.dioceseofevnice.org). Simultaneously, Parishes and Catholic schools throughout the Diocese held their own Prayer services.
For example, students at St. Catherine Catholic School in Sebring joined in the Consecration by praying the rosary. Students at Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers gathered in their courtyard to recite the Act of Consecration. At Incarnation Parish in Sarasota, the faithful, as well as students from Incarnation Catholic School joined together. The Consecration also included time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Pope Francis said during remarks from Rome that the consecration “is no magic formula but a spiritual act… It is an act of complete trust on the part of children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their Mother, reposing all their fears and pain in Her Heart and abandoning themselves to Her.”
The Holy Father added that the Act of Consecration “means placing in that pure and undefiled heart, where God is mirrored, the inestimable goods of fraternity and peace, all that we have and are, so that She, the Mother whom the Lord has given us, may protect us and watch over us.”
Bishop Dewane added that the Act of Consecration “is about people who are suffering. The Lord calls us to be His instruments and to pray and to call upon our Faith; to call upon Christ; to call upon the saints; to intervene to relieve that suffering that we see so much of – also intervene in that war in Ukraine.”
Following the Act of Consecration, Bishop Dewane said that we should all continue to pray the Act of Consecration, particularly “when you see the images that all of us have been inundated with through media. It is then that we need to stop, move away from that media, and say a prayer for those who suffer.”
Bishop Dewane then celebrated the Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
The practice of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is closely linked to the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. During the third apparition, on July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary told three visionaries that God sought to establish the devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart in the world, stating that if this request was not granted, Russia would “spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.” Pope Francis, and previous Popes, have led various consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for example, St. John Paul II’s consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984.
The monument sign and the entrances of Catholic Center and Epiphany Cathedral, both in Venice, have small Ukrainian flags as a sign of unity with the people of Ukraine.
Bishop Dewane has stressed the importance of continued prayer for those suffering. Also, the Diocese of Venice has made it possible for the faithful to contribute toward charitable relief and assist in providing humanitarian aid, as well as necessary recovery efforts.
Donations may be sent to the Diocese of Venice, with “Ukraine” indicated in the memo or note line at the following address: Diocese of Venice in Florida, Ukraine Relief, 1000 Pinebrook Road, Venice, FL 34285, or visit https://dioceseofvenice.org/ways-to-give/ and click the donate button.
Diocese of Venice Seminarians Michael Young and Alan Baldarelli Jr. will be ordained to the Transitional Diaconate, along with nine others, at 11 a.m. April 2, 2022, at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Boynton Beach. Young is studying at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, while Baldarelli is studying at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. Presiding over the ordination is Bishop David Toups of the Diocese of Beaumont. The liturgy will be livestreamed at www.svdp.edu/live. As newly ordained Transitional Deacons, these men will be assigned to Parishes where they will exercise their ministry in preparation to become priests. Among many duties, they will preach, perform baptisms, witness marriages, as well as preside over wakes and funerals. Please join in praying for Michael and Alan as they take this important step in their vocational journey.
St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School’s 40th Anniversary Celebration Gala & Auction was a great success in Naples on March 26, 2022. Parents, priests, parishioners, and other supporters attended the event at the Spirit Center of St. Peter the Apostle Parish. It was a fun night of fellowship, dinner, music and dancing with silent and live auctions, and a Call to the Heart to fund a second Kindergarten classroom in the fall. Demand for enrollment at Seton is at an all-time high creating a great need for additional classroom and administrative space. The event raised approximately $200,000 benefiting the school’s ongoing Campus Expansion Program to meet the needs of the many families desiring quality Catholic education for their children. For more information about the school’s expansion plans, visit www.Saintelizabethseton.com/Giving.
Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Rwandan genocide survivor and author, was the guest speaker at the annual Faith & Ale – Faith & Wine Joint Event in Lee County at St. John XXIII Parish in Fort Myers on March 24, 2022. Approximately 650 heard Immaculée’s presentation as she shared her amazing story of being a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. In addition to sharing the details of having lost her parents and brothers, her message centered around the topic of faith, hope and forgiveness. Faith & Wine Lee County is a Catholic faith lay-group which unites women of all backgrounds. A related program, Faith & Ale, is a Catholic men’s group and will host its final gathering of the season on April 21 at St. John XXIII Parish, 13060 Palomino Lane, Fort Myers, for a presentation by Dan Hesse on the topic, “Can Catholic Values Save Capitalism?” Hesse is a retired CEO of AT&T Wireless Services and Sprint. The program begins at 6 p.m., with pizza and refreshments for a $10 donation. Reservations are required – please register online at www.faithandale.com.
Second grade students at St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton completed a biography research project on March 25, 2022, which included making a presentation and dressing up as the historical figure they researched. The students also created posters, a wax museum and essays about the person. Among the historical figures chosen were Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Race for the Roses Gala, benefiting Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Sarasota, was held March 25, 2022, at the Grove in Lakewood Ranch. Supporters dressed in their favorite outfits fit for a day at the Kentucky Derby. Proceeds were targeting the creation of a new science and physics labs. Ginger Judge was this year’s recipient of the School Sister’s of Notre Dame Award for her continuous support of Cardinal Mooney.
The girls track team of Donahue Catholic Academy of Ave Maria Parish came home from the Immokalee Meet on March 23, 2022, with seven gold medals, two silvers, five bronzes and winning the meet overall! The boy’s team did well, too, earning multiple medals and an overall third place team finish. Special recognition goes to Freshman Izzy Meyer who brought home three gold medals. The results are impressive taking into account this is only the second year the school has had a track team.
On March 28, 2022, students at St. Andrew Catholic School in Cape Coral partnered with the St. Vincent de Paul Society to create “care packages” for the needy of Southwest Florida. The students had been collecting the items for weeks leading up to a packing session. Items included various products that promote personal hygiene.
Both saints are celebrated in particular ways in mid-March, with the Feast Day of St. Patrick celebrated on March 17 and the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19. During that week, Parishes and schools throughout the Diocese of Venice held a variety of celebrations in honor of each saint.
A St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Naples featured participation from each Catholic School in Collier County. Other schools in the Diocese held Leprechaun Days and other fun events to honor the Irish saint who is credited with converting Ireland to Christianity.
Epiphany Cathedral in Venice hosted a Mass for the Solemnity of St. Joseph which was celebrated in Italian and included the active involvement of the Italian-American Club of Venice. Following the March 18, 2022 Mass, the statue of St. Joseph was carried to the Parish Hall in a procession led by the Knights of Columbus. There, Msgr. Patrick Dubois, Cathedral Rector, blessed the traditional St. Joseph’s table of bread and sweets, which was later distributed.
St. Columbkille Parish in Fort Myers got into the spirit of both Feast Days, first with a St. Patrick’s Dinner Dance and then an Italia Festa two days later. While the favored colors representing the two saints differed (green for St. Patrick and red and white for St. Joseph), both gatherings involved lots of tasty food, ethnic music and fun.
The buzz of excitement was infectious on March 21, 2022, at Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, as teachers moved between breakout sessions, eager to put into practice what they learned during the STREAM Symposium.
The STREAM Symposium offered teachers and other participants a choice of more than 30 breakout sessions. Each 45-minute session encompassed a STREAM topic ranging from integrating smart boards and educational software to promoting digital safety and project-based learning in the classroom, as well as how best to integrate the teachings of the Church in a classroom setting. Between sessions, attendees also visited with premier education technology vendors and sponsors and participated in interactive exhibits that showcased faith-infused innovation.
The Diocese of Venice strives to be the nation’s premier provider of STREAM education, Father Belmonte stressed. “This system supports teachers by helping them prepare every student to become a man or woman of God, a person of virtue, who pursues scientific, technological and artistic endeavors founded on Faith. This Symposium is one way to convey that support.”
Father Murphy most notably served as Pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Cape Coral for 21 years and later founded St. Andrew Catholic School.
Within the Diocese of Venice, Father Murphy was a longtime member of the school board for Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Fort Myers, a member of the Presbyteral Council, Diocesan Treasurer, and then Vicar Forane (Dean) of the Central Deanery (1995-1997) prior to his retirement. In 1984, when St. Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Venice in Florida, Father Murphy was a member of an 11-priest committee which oversaw the various activities related to this important occasion. Events supervised included the elevation of Epiphany Church to a Cathedral, as well as the installation of Bishop John J. Nevins as the first Bishop of the new Diocese.
Members of the St. Michael Parish Council of Catholic Woman and Faith Formation Group from Wauchula traveled March 15, 2022, to Sarasota to pray to end abortion at the Planned Parenthood facility as part of the 40 Days for Life spring prayer campaign. The group was present 
Heinz Wartski, a 93 year old Holocaust survivor and Korean War veteran, shared his story with Bishop Verot Catholic High School students on March 15, 2022, in Fort Myers. Heinz Wartski grew up in Danzig with his parents and two siblings. In 1939, Heinz and his family escaped to Italy and later joined the partisan resistance in the Appenine Mountains. He stated: “We were a minority in every nation in which we lived, and we were therefore easy targets for any government in need of scapegoats.” His family survived until liberation in 1945. Heinz and his family immigrated to the United States in 1949. He married Hella Wartski, a fellow Holocaust survivor, and had two children. He currently resides in Naples, and volunteers with the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida.
Thank you to Katy Wallis, professor at State College of Florida, for leading fifth-grade students from St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton through an interactive lesson on the digestive system on March 18, 2022. Students used plastic bags filled with various items to get a “feel” for how the digestive system, including the stomach, works.
The St. John Neumann Catholic High School Celtic Boys Basketball Team in Naples finished the season with a team GPA of 3.74 which is #1 in the Florida High School Athletic Association 2A classification and the #3 team GPA in the entire state. Well done!
On March 11, 2022, the student body of Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School in Sarasota participated in praying a living rosary as a lead up to Spring Break. A living rosary consists of people representing each bead of the rosary. Each person then leads one prayer of the rosary. Different grade levels represented different decades, including one in Spanish. This was the last group gathering for the students before going on Spring Break.
St. John Neumann Catholic High School students, along with Sister April Hoffman, FMA, attended the Salesian Leadership Retreat the week of March 7-11, 2022. The retreat is run by the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, which is the same religious order that leads Neumann. The group stopped in Hoboken, N.J., for a little sightseeing excursion before traveling to Haledon to meet up with more of the Salesian family. While on the retreat, the warm-weather Neumann Celtics also got a taste of snow during a tour of New York City.
Local artist, Marcus Zotter, is at it again. He painted another amazing mural on an interior wall of the St. Ann Catholic School library. The artwork incorporates the images of five current students. Earlier in the school year, Zotter created a dolphin-themed mural on a nearby exterior wall.
1st Graders at St. Martha Catholic School in Sarasota conducted an Easter Egg Gravity Investigation on March 11, 2022. The young scientists have been learning about gravity and after making their predictions, they did a variety of tests with different types of fresh and plastic eggs on a ramp, at varying levels and kept track of the results in a data table.
Three sixth grade girls represented St. Joseph Catholic School in Bradenton as the first ever Battle of the Books Team. The students were Anya, Bailey, and Kimberly. On March 11, 2022, the team competed against other Manatee County Schools at Braden River High School. Teams earned points by answering questions about the 15 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books for 2021-2022. As first-time competitors, the St. Joseph girls took third place. Congratulations!
From small colleges far away to large local universities, students were able to ask questions of 51 different representatives from across the United States.
Congratulations to St. Joseph Catholic School students from Bradenton who competed in the Knights of Columbus State Free Throw Contest on March 5, 2022, at Melbourne High School in Melbourne. Bendli took 1st place for 12-year-old boys; Serafina was second for 13-year-old girls; Nathan was third for 11-year-old boys; and Rodnel won at the regional level for nine-year-old boys. Students competed in their age level divisions after having won local, district, and regional levels.
The Incarnation Catholic School Cheer Team from Sarasota took first place in the Feb. 28, 2022, East Coast Cheer Championships in Tampa. Congratulations Ladies!
A new Stations of the Cross Prayer Garden was designed and constructed by Bishop Verot Catholic High School woodshop students to encourage everyone to visit and meditate on the Passion of our Lord. It was unveiled in Fort Myers on March 3, 2022, and includes the 14 Stations of the Cross, which depict the last hours of Jesus’ life: from His condemnation to His burial.
Another great retreat is in the books at St. John Neumann Catholic High School in Naples. The Junior Olympics for the class of 2023 was held March 3, 2022, as the students spent the day learning, working, and competing together.
Middle school students at St. Andrew Catholic School in Cape Coral have been assisting NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) with beta testing on a new generation of electric-powered aircraft that can fly safely while conserving resources and reducing pollution. The St. Andrew students had a unique opportunity to assist NASA by beta testing a new lesson that the agency developed to inspire the next generation of aeronautic engineers. The lesson, titled “Wingin’ It,” is a multiphase STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, Math) lesson for engaging students in experimental aircraft research. The students worked in teams and worked on building and testing the flights of different styles of airplanes; testing the effect of adding weight incrementally; designing and building a support system to reduce flutter in wings; and modifying a paper airplane to improve its performance. The students also provided feedback to NASA on the positive aspects, challenges and ideas for improving the lesson. With the help of the St. Andrew students, NASA will finalize “Wingin’ It” before publishing it for use by students across the country.
The Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School Lady Cougars basketball team fell short of their goal of winning a State Championship during a return trip to the Class 3A Finals on Feb. 25, 2022, at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
While the loss is disappointing, the team has nearly its entire roster returning for another run next season. The team is led by two juniors, Jordyn Byrd (12 points and 13 rebounds), and Olivia Davis (7 points and 5 rebounds), and two freshman Kali Barrett (8 points, 9 rebounds) and Sy’monique Simon (8 points).
