Welcome to Our Lady of Grace!

When we pause to look around and take in the breadth of activities and ministries flourishing within our parish, we cannot help but be moved by the profound faith of our 3,000 parishioners and the joyful smiles of the more than 300 children in our School of Religion. The Lord’s work is unmistakably alive here. From our humble beginnings as a small “postage‑stamp” missionary church just 65 years ago, Our Lady of Grace has grown into the spiritual home of 1,300 families. As you explore this website, we are confident you will see the abundant fruits of dedicated service—much of it nurtured within our beautiful parish hall, the Grogan Center.

It is with gratitude to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, that I announce in the Diocese of Venice in Florida, that Our Holy Father, following prayerful discernment is appointing a new Shepherd for the Diocese of Venice in Florida.  Bishop-elect Emilio Biosca Agüero, ofmcap, a priest ordained on May 21, 1994 for the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Augustine (Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania).  Having served in assignments for the Province both overseas and within the United States, Bishop-elect has for the past seven years been the Pastor at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Washinton, D.C and has held numerous leadership positions within his Religious Community. Son of an immigrant family with 7 children, Bishop-elect is enthusiastic, with a strong pastoral spirit and particular devotion to the Virgin Mary and to serving the People of God. With all of you, I welcome him to our Diocesan family, which will be greatly blessed by his ministry, and I very much look forward to getting to know him as in just a few days he has shown himself to be a deeply spiritual and exceptional priest.

Our new Bishop is coming to a Diocese that is the growing at a rapid pace with families and individuals that evidence a vibrant faith and diverse backgrounds.  It has been a great joy for me to have ministered here for the past twenty years.  I am pleased and very proud of the Catholic Community of the Diocese, who they are and who they are becoming, by their witness to Christ.  This has become possible by the great pastoral care and service that the priests, both Diocesan and Religious, have provided. 

In accord with canon law, I submitted my resignation to the Pope over a year ago on my seventy-fifth birthday, and, with the appointment of Bishop-elect Agüero, it is now formally accepted.  As I retire, it is my plan to remain in the Diocese of Venice, which has become my home as it has for so many others from the Midwest.  I can assure Bishop Emilio that he will not see occasional snowfall, just an occasional hurricane or two.  

To the Priests, Deacons, and joy filled laity, thank you all for being the wonderful family of faith, hope, and love.  I look forward to my continued home here assisting the new Bishop pastorally, in any manner I can.  I also look forward to more time for prayer, study and travel.

As of today, I am officially the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Venice in Florida and have been appointed its Apostolic Administrator until the day of Bishop-elect Aguero ordination which will take place on July 11, 2026.

It is my great privilege to present to you Bishop-elect Emilio Biosca Agüero.