The spiritual leader of more than 227,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Venice, Florida, is welcoming the community to a Catholic Mass honoring living and dead veterans on Veterans Day.

Rev. Frank Dewane, bishop of the Diocese of Venice, will join attendees of the Veterans Day event that will be held at 3 p.m. Nov. 11, at the Sarasota National Cemetery Amphitheater, 9810 state Road 72, Sarasota (exit 205 Clark Road), the events on Facebook said.

“All veterans, active and retired, are invited to join Bishop Frank J. Dewane for the annual Catholic Mass on Veterans Day at the Sarasota National Cemetery in remembrance and honor of the men and women who defend our country’s freedoms,” the Diocese of Venice's Facebook page said.

The Most Rev. Frank Dewane, bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida, welcomes the community to the Catholic Mass honoring veterans on Nov. 11. | https://dioceseofvenice.org/our-bishop/bishop-frank-j-dewane-biography/

A federal holiday, Veterans Day is held annually Nov. 11. It honors military veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces and commemorates the end of World War I, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said.

The purpose of Veterans Day is a “celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good,” the department said.

After California and Texas, Florida has the largest veterans population in the country, with more than 1.5 million, according to the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs.