SARASOTA — Restoring the visibility that diminished in his predecessor’s final years, the leader of Southwest Florida’s Catholic Church spent his first days as bishop in prayer walks outside abortion clinics across the region, stopping in Sarasota on Monday.
The walks coincided with similar events across the nation to mark Monday’s 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.
The Vatican installed Dewane, 56, as bishop of the 10-county Diocese of Venice on Friday, the day former Bishop John J. Nevins turned 75 and retired. That same day, Dewane led a group in a walk outside a Fort Myers abortion clinic. On Saturday, he walked with an anti-abortion group outside a clinic in Port Charlotte.
Although the diocese sponsored only the vigil at Planned Parenthood’s health clinic in Sarasota, the bishop attended all three.
"I was very pleased with that," said Jim Styer, president of Sarasota-Manatee Right to Life. "And it encouraged me as to the probable emphasis that he would give as bishop to the pro-life cause."
2 comments
Okay, this bishop deserved the spine-crosier!
🙂
I wish my archbishop did the same with us.