VENICE — Bishop Frank Dewane of the Diocese of Venice announced Wednesday that Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Rev. Emilio Biosca Agüero, a missionary who served in Cuba and Papua New Guinea, as the new bishop of the diocese.
The bishop-elect was ordained in 1994 for the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Augustine in Pittsburgh. He has been pastor for the past seven years at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Washington, D.C., where he took a leading role in a procession last fall to mark the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
The son of an immigrant couple with seven children, the 61-year-old Franciscan priest is fluent in English, Spanish and a Papua New Guinea Creole dialect.
His ordination is scheduled for July 11.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the new bishop said he accepted the appointment “with trust in the providence of God,” expressing gratitude to Pope Leo XIV, Dewane and his Capuchin Franciscan community.
Franciscans have a long history in Florida, he said, noting that this year is the 800th anniversary of the death of the community’s founder, St. Francis of Assisi.
He recalled that colleagues predicted 10 years ago that he would become a bishop and that he would need a lot of prayers.
“That’s the part I’m thinking about now,” he said.
He quoted a favorite passage by St. John of the Cross: “What does it profit you to give God one thing if he asks of you another? Consider what it is God wants and then do it. You will as a result better satisfy your heart than with that towards which you yourself are inclined.”
“I very much look forward to getting to know him as in just these few days he has shown himself to be a very spiritual and exceptional priest,” Bishop Emeritus Dewane said.
The outgoing bishop, who will serve as administrator until July, said he intends to spend his retirement in prayer, study and travel. He submitted his resignation, as required by church law, at age 75 last year.
The Diocese of Venice serves more than 250,000 parishioners in 10 counties: Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota. It was established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1984 and is comprised of former portions of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, the Diocese of Orlando and the Archdiocese of Miami. Bishop John J. Nevins was the founding bishop, succeeded by Dewane in 2007.