After consultation, Bishop Frank J. Dewane announces the following appointments:
Reverend James Cogan, as Parochial Vicar of St. Joseph Parish in Bradenton, effective August 4, 2025, and thus is relieved of his duties as Parochial Vicar of Incarnation Parish in Sarasota.
Reverend James Simko, on personal leave effective August 4, 2025, and thus is relieved of his duties as Parochial Vicar of St. Joseph Parish in Bradenton.
Reverend Ananda Anki Reddy, is relieved of his duties as Parochial Vicar of St. Andrew Parish in Cape Coral, effective August 20, 2025, and thus, will return to his home Diocese of Cuddapah, India.
______________________________
Join the Florida Bishops to Pray a Novena to End the Death Penalty – This year, in 2025, Florida will break its record for the number of executions carried out in a single year, with a 10th execution - the execution of Kayle Bates - scheduled for August 19, 2025. This record pace of executions is alarming. The death penalty is a harmful and unnecessary form of punishment. State-sanctioned killing further distorts society's understanding of the sacredness of all human life, diminishing the recognition of our own inherent dignity and that of others.
The Bishops of Florida will pray a Novena for an end to the use of Florida's death penalty from August 6-14, 2025, concluding on the Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was executed in an Auschwitz prison camp in 1941. Please join us!
Printable versions of the prayer and accompanying scripture verses for reflection are available in English and Spanish on the FCCB website for each day of the Novena. Also, daily Novena reminders via email are available through sign up here.
______________________________
The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Friday, August 15, 2025, is a Holy Day of Obligation. On this day the Church acknowledges and celebrates the fact that Mary, the Mother of God, was assumed into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.
"The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.” (CCC 974)
Prayer to Mary, Assumed into Heaven
O Immaculate Mary, Assumed into heaven,
you who are most blessed in the vision of God:
of God the Father who exalted you among all creatures,
of God the Son who willed that you bear Him as your Son and that you should be His Mother,
of God the Holy Spirit who accomplished the human conception of the Savior in you.
O Mary, most pure
O Mary, most sweet and beautiful
O Mary, strong and thoughtful woman
O Mary, poor and sorrowful
O Mary, virgin and mother
woman very human like Eve, more than Eve.
You are near to God by your grace and by your privileges
in your mysteries
in your mission, in your glory.
O Mary, assumed into the glory of Christ
in the complete and transfigured perfection of our human nature.
O Mary, gate of heaven
mirror of divine light
ark of the Covenant between God and mankind,
let our souls fly after you
let them fly long your radiant path,
transported by a hope that the world does not contain eternal beatitude.
Comfort us from heaven, O merciful Mother,
and guide us along your ways of purity and hope
till the day of that blessed meeting with you
and with your divine Son
our Savior, Jesus. Amen!
(Saint Paul VI)