Pope Leo XIV Names Our Brother a Bishop

From our Provincial Minister Robert Marva, OFM Cap.:

Dear Friars, Family, and Friends of the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine, it is with great joy that I ask you to join with me in thanksgiving to Almighty God and humble gratitude to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV for choosing our Br. Emilio Biosca, OFM Cap., as bishop to serve as the third bishop of the Diocese of Venice, Florida.

While this announcement has come as a surprise to many, it is for others a confirmation of the pastoral zeal, commitment to the poor, and care for the stranger and alien that have marked Bishop-elect Biosca’s ministry as pastor to the people of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, DC, as well as to the friars and people of Cuba where he also labored for a number of years.

Bishop-elect Emilio brings to the service of the Church of Venice thoughtful wisdom and a faithfilled disposition marked by prayer and fidelity to the Rule of St. Francis and the Constitutions of our family of Capuchin Franciscans.

The Mass of Ordination and Installation in the Diocese of Venice is set for Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 2:00 PM.  It will be at St. John XXIII Parish in Fort Myers, Florida, since the cathedral is currently being renovated in Venice, Florida.

More to come in the days ahead!

From our Novitiate: The Caperone

 

Check out the latest edition of our Caperone
from our Capuchin Novices at San Lorenzo Friary in Santa Ynez, CA.

Celebrating 450 Years of St. Fidelis: 1577-2027

  What's in a name?

  This year, we begin the 450^th year celebration of the birth of Marcos Rey, son of Juan Rey, a native of Spain. His mother was Genevieve Rosemberger. It’s well known that he was born in Sigmaringen [now in Germany] into a Flemish family, and that he received a solid Christian education before becoming a compassionate and charitable lawyer. Later, he became a  Capuchin friar named Br. Fidelis. He died a martyr’s death during the Wars of Religion in 1622 at 45, but his martyrdom, on April 24^th, would lead to his being named the Patron of the Vatican Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith [now called the “Evangelization of Peoples”].

  A few centuries later in 1873, Pope Pius IX issued a decree authorizing the Capuchin Order to establish preparatory seminaries. It was a major move from the Vatican, but it was also the time when German Capuchins had begun moving out of Europe to propagate the Americas. And so what? Well . . .

  In October of that same year, our Capuchin confreres Hyacinth Epp and two companions arrived from Bavaria and found a welcome in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA. Within months, the friars gathered a group of boys at St Augustine's and gave them fundamental lessons in English (for the young German immigrants) and in Latin. At St. Augustine’s Friary, the boys were only day students. It became obvious to them that the present arrangement was a poor substitute for the ideal set up by Pius IX. The friars realized that they had to find a different place for a seminary and a novitiate. 

There's more to the story . . .

Following the Footsteps: Our brother David Domansky

We're commemorating the 800th anniversary of the death of our founder and inspiration, St. Francis of Assisi. Our brother David Domanski, OFM Cap., serving in the Cleveland Diocese as Pastor to Holy Spirit Parish, Garfield Heights, and in ministry to the incarcerated at Cuyahoga County Jail (Cleveland Diocese), was interviewed for the Cleveland podcast, Catholic Pore Over. The hosts asked our brother to share his thoughts on our call as Capuchin Franciscans and on our ministry within the Church.

If the video does not appear above in your browser,
you can go directly to YouTube.