Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Venice

Venetiarum in Florida

The Diocese of Venice in Florida is a Latin Church diocese covering ten counties of southwest Florida, erected in 1984 and suffragan to the Archdiocese of Miami. Bishop Frank Dewane's resignation was accepted on May 13, 2026, and Emilio Biosca Aguero, OFM Cap., is bishop-elect with episcopal ordination scheduled for July 11, 2026.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
16 June 1984
Latin
Venetiarum in Florida
Patron
Our Lady of Mercy
Annuario code
001000084

The see in figures

Catholics
242,156
Population
2,444,235
Catholic share
9.9%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
195
Catholics per priest
1,242
Extent
22,685 km²
Catholics per km²
11

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Emilio Biosca Aguero, OFM Cap. (bishop-elect)
Born
9 March 1950
Birthplace
Green Bay

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Epiphany Cathedral stands in Venice, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Miami

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Miami.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Founded in 1984, the Diocese of Venice in Florida (Latin: Dioecesis Venetiae in Florida) serves the Catholic Church in southwest Florida in the United States as a suffragan of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Miami.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].