Bishop Agüero brings hope to Church of the Ascension with Mass on anniversary of Hurricane Ian
On Monday, on the fourth anniversary of the storm that killed 16 people on Fort Myers Beach including several Church of the Ascension parishioners, Bishop Emilio Biosca Agüero led the first mass on the church property since that date.
Agüero, who was appointed by Pope Leo XIV to head the Catholic Diocese of Venice, Florida in May, brought a message of hope to a crowd of approximately 300 parishioners inside a tent on the Fort Myers Beach church property. The overflow crowd extended past the seats assembled.
Agüero’s mission on Monday was not to dwell on the day that Hurricane Ian brought mass destruction to this island. He understood that words would not be sufficient to describe the horror and loss that so many endured.
Instead, Agüero delivered hope to the crowd that after four years their church would be returned to them.
Agüero, who officially took over his position in July, said he has visited the property four times and is currently seeking input from local clergy as to what would be the right size for the new church buildings.
Agüero told the Fort Myers Beach Observer after the mass that he believes the church building, which at one time was being considered for demolition, may actually be saved. Agüero said he is seeking input as to whether the church building is in good enough shape to stay. He also believes the monastery and rectory can be saved.
For now, Agüero said the San Damiano Monastery chapel on the property is being eyed as a temporary home for services. Agüero said the church wants to ensure the chapel meets all building codes and is certified by the town as safe to reopen. “I want to make sure it is safe,” he said. Agüero said it could be a few months before the chapel reopens, but if allowed, the chapel would be able to hold services for about 100 parishioners. Agüero said he wants to ensure the church can provide the appropriate resources of personnel and music for the services and that other basic services such as bathrooms can be opened there, air conditioning, or fans will be needed.
Agüero said that he has been talking with builders and planners regarding what a new church on the property will look like. “We have our own good idea of what would be a good solution,” he said. He has been talking with the leadership of nearby clergy on what they believe the local community needs, and what type of building is necessary for an area that has been hit by multiple hurricanes in the last four years.
Parishioners like former Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy told the bishop it didn’t matter to them how the church was built or what it looked like, it only mattered that the church returned in some form. Some said they would be happy to just have services in a tent on the property, like it was on Monday.
Murphy said there has been “a great yearning for the new church that is going to come. Most of us here, your excellency, we know you are going to a great job. But we don’t really care to be honest with you. We would just like a beautiful church to be built here and worship.”
Murphy, whose brother Bob is a pastor in the diocese, said “Today is the first day of our rebirth here at the Church of the Ascension. This is what we have been waiting for. There has been a massive hole in all of us over the years. We missed the church. Not only the spirituality of it, but the community,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he hoped the bishop would return to hold mass again on the first day the new church is open after being rebuilt.
Agüero said he understood the message sent by Murphy and others on Monday about the need to reopen. “People don’t want to wait,” he said. “They just want a tent or simple conditions” to be able to worship again on the property, Agüero said. Agüero said his first priority would be ensuring that the chapel and other buildings are safe for future use. So far, Agüero said he has been told that the cinder block chapel is in good condition, and that the roof appears to be in good condition.
Father Bill Adams, who led the church at the time of Hurricane Ian, stayed on the property with the nuns during the storm and lost all of his belongings.
“We were here and the water reached over the doors of the rectory,” Adams said. “I was with the sisters (at the monastery), and we were going to move to the third floor. The water was moving fast,” he said. The ordeal lasted five and a half hours before the surge subsided. When they went back out, Adams said there were parts of homes everywhere. “There was an enormous alligator walking around the property,” he said. They would meet survivors who told stories of surviving with the water nearly up to their noses and floating in their cars with the water. Adams had to identify some of the dead who were parishioners of his from photos.
“We left here with the clothes on our back,” Adams said. Adams said he and the sisters were rescued by members of the Knights of Columbus who arrived from Fort Lauderdale a few days after the storm, after the generator stopped working. They were without electricity or running water. “I am so grateful to the Knights for saving us,” he said.
Adams was happy to see members of his congregation again on Monday for the first mass in four years. “I am so grateful to see so many familiar faces here,” he said.
Fort Myers Beach Vice Mayor Scott Safford said Monday was a tough day for him. It is not only the anniversary of Hurricane Ian, which took the Sea Gypsy Inn that he and wife Jacki Liszak operated on Fort Myers Beach, but also said the day would have been the 80th anniversary of the wedding of his parents.
“The one thing I take from the next day, Sept. 29, is the grace we found because Sept. 28 was our darkest day on this island. We lost so many friends, we lost businesses, we lost our lives. We kind of measure Sept. 28 as either before Ian or after Ian. I remember what I found on Sept. 29 was grace,” Safford said. “It didn’t matter who you were,” he said. “You helped one another and you were helped.”
Safford said “We are going to rebuild and we are going to rebuild together. The faith is here. The grace is here. We just need a church.”
Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay said bringing back the church was important to the town. “We are committed to it. We will do everything, me and my staff, to make sure that happens in the most strong and resilient way as quickly as possible,” McKannay said. He said he has been working closely with the diocese.
After the mass, Fort Myers Beach Councilmember met the bishop and told him “pray for us.”
After the mass and prayers had been said for Fort Myers Beach, Agüero talked to the Fort Myers Beach Observer about what the future holds for the Church of the Ascension as well as his thoughts on hearing about the devastation the Fort Myers Beach congregation went through during Hurricane Ian.
“It’s hard,” Agüero said about dealing with the destruction of the hurricane. Agüero referred to his previous work as a Franciscan missionary, working in Cuba and Papa New Guinea. “I have been through some hurricanes myself when I was in Cuba, and I have been through some natural disasters in Papa New Guinea when I was up in the bush there, in the jungle,” Agüero said. “Here, the experience that they have had, like some would say, it was surreal. They would sea boats and pieces of houses, and the people who died,” Agüero said of what survivors had spoken to him about. “In many ways, it is almost incommunicable. It is a lot of trauma. It is not just sadness, but a tragedy. People have been sharing pieces of their story, it is very difficult. Many of them are here and I can just read it from their faces,” he said.
Agüero said Monday was most of all about hope. “Today has been a beautiful, soulful day of hope,” he said.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at NMayberg@breezenewspapers.com