Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida
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Diocese of Venice in Florida Dioecesis Venetiae in Florida |
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| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Territory | The counties of Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota |
| Ecclesiastical province | Province of Miami |
| Population - Catholics |
245,000 (12.4%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | June 16, 1984 |
| Cathedral | Epiphany Cathedral |
| Patron saint | Our Lady of Mercy St. Mark the Evangelist |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Frank Joseph Dewane |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Thomas Wenski |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| dioceseofvenice.org | |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida (Latin: Dioecesis Venetiae in Florida) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Florida, founded on June 16, 1984. The Diocese of Venice includes the ten counties of Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota.
As bishop John Joseph Nevins resigned for reasons of age on January 19, 2007, he was succeeded as ordinary by bishop Frank Joseph Dewane.
The first Spanish explorers came ashore in what is now the diocese in the 16th century. Their arrival brought the first Catholic missionaries, whose purpose was to set up permanent missions in the name of Spain and the Catholic Church. Conquistador Juan Ponce de León was the first European to arrive in Florida, in 1513. He explored its west coast between 1513 and 1521.
Ponce de Leon encountered the resident Calusa tribe, who first welcomed the Spanish, but later objected because the explorers had desecrated their sacred places, and fought the invaders. The Calusa objected to the construction of missions, and frequently attacked them. When Ponce de Leon was injured in an attack the expedition and mission on the West Coast was abandoned.
Seven years later Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto brought priests to Florida in an attempt to evangelize the native tribes during an exploration of the coast from 1539-1542. DeSoto led an expedition of 10 ships and 620 men, which included 12 priests. They landed near what is now Bradenton on May 25, 1539. Mass was celebrated almost every day by the expedition priests. Later, when DeSoto landed at Shaw’s Point near the mouth of Tampa Bay, the men named it "La Bahia de Espiritu Santo," in honor of the Holy Spirit. The sheer number of DeSoto's forces caused the Calusa to abandon their settlements along the harbor entrance. (A memorial to the Eucharist and a Memorial Cross were built and dedicated in the area near DeSoto's landings by Bishop Emeritus John J. Nevins in 1994 at De Soto National Memorial in Bradenton.)
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Wikipedia