Starting as awkward freshmen four years ago, as they start the next chapter in their lives, never far from their minds will be the Catholic education which gave them the advantage to face the world as confident adults.

“Stay in contact with your faith and follow that call of God to holiness,” Bishop Frank J. Dewane told the Cardinal Mooney High School graduates during the commencement ceremony at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota. “Live the gifts you have received. Remember that the choices you make will affect your lives and aspire to only find those answers through God.”

The graduates of Cardinal Mooney, St. John Neumann in Naples and Bishop Verot in Fort Myers will be attending some of the finest institutions of higher learning throughout the country. Of the graduates, 99 percent will continue on to advanced education.

Judy Abler was having a quiet day when she received a surprise phone call from Bishop Frank J. Dewane.

The call was to inform her that she had been selected as the winner of a 10-day Pilgrimage to Italy with Bishop Dewane in late September in a raffle sponsored by the Central Deanery Council of Catholic Women.

The Cape Coral resident and member St. Katherine Drexel Parish responded to Bishop Dewane’s call with a scream of astonishment, “Oh my gosh! I don’t believe it! Thank you so much!” She said she never wins anything but now she will be going on a trip of a lifetime which is part of the “Year of Celebration” commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Diocese of Venice.

The tickets were sold throughout the Diocese for $100. That $100 won Abler two tickets for the trip from Sept. 28- Oct. 9 includes a tour of Italy. Tour stops includes the cities of Venice, Padua, Florence, Siena, Assisi, Rome and the islands of Murano, Torcello and Burano, and insider tour of the Vatican.

Bishop Dewane selected the winner from a silver bowl full of the purchased tickets brought to the Catholic Center in Venice by Central Deanery CCW representatives Fran Patterson and Karen Hartmann.

By the time Abler was off the phone with Bishop Dewane, she was crying.

The Central Deanery CCW will use the profits from the sale of the tickets to donate it to a good cause which will be determined at it next board meeting later in June.

For more information about the Pilgrimage to Italy with Bishop Dewane call Mary Campo, 941-441-1117.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane accepts National Catholic Committee on Scouting Quality Diocese Award for 2008 from Diocese Scouting Director James Fetterman May 28 in the chancery. The award is given to the diocese which meets certain standards of performance and training by the National Catholic Committee.

Only about half of the dioceses in the U.S. receive the honor. This is the first time Diocese of Venice received this distinguished award..

The fifth and final major fund raising event benefiting Catholic Charities had a decidedly Western theme with cowboy hats, boots, bandannas, dancing and lots of fun.

The seventh annual Boots and Bandannas event benefiting Catholic Charities of DeSoto County held March 21 at Mission Valley Country Club will go a long way to ensuring that families in the rural county will have food on their table, dreams of citizenship realized and the children will continue to achieve academic success. It was also the largest event ever benefiting the program.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane, sporting a white cowboy hat, thanked everyone for their support of the programs in DeSoto County. He was heard to joke: “Good guys wear white hats.”

“The people who benefit from Catholic Charities programs in Arcadia have been hit very hard in the economic downturn,” Bishop Dewane said. “There has been a nearly 100 percent increase in demand for services just in the past year. They need your support now more than ever.” Andrea Herigodt, district director for DeSoto County, said the event provides hope where there has been very little in recent months.

The DeSoto County program offers direct financial assistance, has a food pantry, after-school tutoring, and immigration services provided by certified counselors.

The Boots and Bandannas event is traditionally the final event of the season benefiting the different regions within Catholic Charities. Events were held benefiting programs in Sarasota, Lee and Collier counties, as well as a specific event to benefit Our Mother’s House.

These events serve as a just one small portion of the funding for the 36 programs which take place throughout the Diocese of Venice benefiting more than 40,000 people each year.