About San Jose · Fort Myers, Florida
San Jose Mission (Misión de San José) is a Spanish-language Catholic mission in the Iona / South Fort Myers area, at 10750 Gladiolus Drive. Founded in 1968 and currently administered as a mission of Jesus the Worker Parish in the Diocese of Venice, it serves a predominantly Hispanic immigrant community of farmworkers and laborers. Mass is celebrated in Spanish three times a week (Saturday evening, Sunday midday, and Wednesday evening), and the mission is sustained by a network of lay prayer groups and a religious education program under Sister Rosemary Le, FMI.
- Established
- 1968
- Patron
- San José (Saint Joseph)
- Rector
- Rev. Benjamin Casimir (Administrator of San Jose Mission and its parent parish, Jesus the Worker)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Venice in Florida
Why belong here
San Jose Mission is a small, tight-knit, almost entirely Spanish-speaking Catholic community in southern Fort Myers that welcomes everyone who walks in. It offers three weekly Spanish Masses (Saturday evening, Sunday midday, Wednesday evening), a robust set of lay prayer groups coordinated by parishioners, and a religious-education program for the children and youth — now housed in a brand-new Catechetical Center blessed by the bishop in March 2026 after Hurricane Ian's destruction. For Spanish-speaking Catholic families and migrant workers in the Gladiolus Drive / Iona area, it is the easiest, most accessible place in the Diocese of Venice to practice the faith in their own language and to be known by name.
Mass times at San Jose
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Confessions are offered 30 minutes before every Mass (per the parent parish, Jesus the Worker, schedule shared on jesustheworker.org)
San Jose Mission — Identity and Parish History
Misión de San José is a Spanish-language Catholic mission in southern Fort Myers, sharing a single pastoral team, website, and mailing infrastructure with its parent parish, Jesus the Worker (881 Nuna Ave., Fort Myers, FL 33905). It was founded in 1968 by Spanish-born priests — Father Esteban Soy, Father Nicanor Lobato, and Father Antonio Diez — first under the name Lourdes Mission, as an outreach of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish to immigrant farmworker families in the Gladiolus Drive area. Clergy were lent from the Archdiocese of Miami and later the Diocese of Saint Petersburg. Today the mission continues as a small, tight-knit community that 'welcomes all who enter,' per the Diocese of Venice.
- Founded 1968 as Lourdes Mission, a mission of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish
- Founding priests: Fr. Esteban Soy, Fr. Nicanor Lobato, Fr. Antonio Diez (all from Spain)
- Originally staffed by priests from the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Saint Petersburg
- Now a mission of Jesus the Worker Parish, Diocese of Venice
Hurricane Ian (2022) and the New Catechetical Center
Hurricane Ian in September 2022 flooded the San Jose Mission site, destroyed portable classrooms used for religious education beyond repair, and severely damaged the mission church and hall. Volunteers and Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. cleaned and reopened the church by May 2023. The portable classrooms were eventually replaced with a new, purpose-built Catechetical Center, dedicated to the people of the parish. On March 22, 2026 — the Fifth Sunday of Lent — Bishop Frank J. Dewane celebrated Mass and then blessed the new building, which houses four classrooms and a prayer garden. Because the area was severely flooded in 2022, the structure is made from portable classrooms elevated about eight feet above grade.
- September 2022: Hurricane Ian floods San Jose Mission site
- Church reopens May 2023 after volunteer cleanup
- March 22, 2026: Bishop Frank J. Dewane blesses the new Catechetical Center
- Building: four classrooms + prayer garden, elevated ~8 ft to mitigate future flooding
- Director of Religious Education Sister Rosemary Le, FMI called it 'so beautiful' for the children of San Jose
Clergy and Staff
San Jose Mission is served by the same clergy team that runs its parent parish, Jesus the Worker. The current Administrator is Rev. Benjamin Casimir, who led the thanks at the 2026 Catechetical Center blessing. He is assisted by Parochial Vicar Rev. Jose Del Olmo. Religious education for the mission's children and youth is led by Sister Rosemary Le, FMI, who also serves as Director of Religious Education for Jesus the Worker Parish.
- Rev. Benjamin Casimir — Administrator (San Jose Mission & Jesus the Worker Parish)
- Rev. Jose Del Olmo — Parochial Vicar
- Sister Rosemary Le, FMI — Director of Religious Education
Pastoral Lineage of the Mission
Because San Jose began as a mission of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish and is now a mission of Jesus the Worker, its pastoral succession is intertwined with both. The founding generation in the late 1960s was entirely Spanish-born — Fathers Esteban Soy, Nicanor Lobato, and Antonio Diez — supported by visiting priests from the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Saint Petersburg. In more recent decades, the mission was administered by Father Patrick O'Connor, O.S.F.S. (Oblate of St. Francis de Sales), the pastor widely reported coordinating post-Ian relief in 2022. Administration today rests with Rev. Benjamin Casimir.
- Founding era (late 1960s–1970s): Frs. Esteban Soy, Nicanor Lobato, Antonio Diez (Spain)
- Visiting clergy: Archdiocese of Miami; later Diocese of Saint Petersburg
- 2010s–2022: Fr. Patrick O'Connor, O.S.F.S. — Oblate of St. Francis de Sales
- Current: Rev. Benjamin Casimir, Administrator
Religious Education and Youth Ministry
Faith formation for the children of San Jose Mission is led by Sister Rosemary Le, FMI, who serves as Director of Religious Education for both the mission and the parent parish. Until 2022, classes met in portable buildings on the mission grounds; those were destroyed by Hurricane Ian. The new Catechetical Center — four classrooms plus a prayer garden, dedicated and blessed by Bishop Dewane on March 22, 2026 — now serves as the home for this catechetical work and additional meeting space for the community.
- Director of Religious Education: Sister Rosemary Le, FMI
- New Catechetical Center blessed March 22, 2026 by Bishop Frank J. Dewane
- Four classrooms + prayer garden in the new center
- Building intentionally elevated ~8 ft above grade due to 2022 flooding
Prayer Groups (Grupos de Oración) and Lay Life
San Jose Mission's lay spiritual life is organized around a network of active prayer groups (grupos de oración), each meeting weekly and led by named parishioner-coordinators. The shared jesustheworker.org 'Grupos de Oración' page lists multiple San Jose groups meeting on Monday, Wednesday (two), Thursday (two), and Friday evenings, plus a third-Friday-of-the-month group. The coordinators named on the page include Cecilia Jimenez, Anselmo Hipolito (Gran Caballero), Mauricio Carvajal, Francisca Chavez, Araceli Soto, Francisco Juarez, Maria Rodriguez, Adrian and Silvia Ortiz.
- Monday 7:00 pm — Coordinator: Cecilia Jimenez
- Wednesday 7:00 pm — Coordinator: Mauricio Carvajal
- 3rd Wednesday 7:00 pm — Gran Caballero Anselmo Hipolito
- Thursday 7:00 pm — Coordinator: Francisca Chavez
- Thursday 7:00 pm — Women: Araceli Soto / Men: Francisco Juarez
- Friday 7:30 pm — Coordinators: Adrian and Silvia Ortiz
- 3rd Friday of the month 7:30 pm — Coordinator: Maria Rodriguez
Outreach and Disaster Response
San Jose Mission sits at the heart of a community of mostly Mexican and Central American farmworkers, and its outreach is a defining part of its identity. During Hurricane Irma (2017) and especially Hurricane Ian (2022), the mission site functioned as a relief hub — coordinating food, water, clothing, and emergency information with Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice, Inc. and other partners. After Ian, Father Patrick O'Connor and the parish ran one of the busiest emergency supply lines in the area, serving several thousand people in the days after the storm.
- Hurricane Irma (2017): church used as a shelter for migrant families
- Hurricane Ian (Sept. 2022): mission flooded; relief operations coordinated with Catholic Charities
- Reopened for worship May 2023
- Catechetical Center rebuilt and blessed March 2026
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Esteban Soy
Spanish-born founding priest of the mission (originally Lourdes Mission), circa 1968.
- Father Nicanor Lobato
Spanish-born founding priest; stayed up to three years at a time.
- Father Antonio Diez
Spanish-born founding priest; stayed up to three years at a time.
- Rev. Patrick O'Connor, O.S.F.S.
Oblate of St. Francis de Sales; administered San Jose Mission as a mission of Jesus the Worker Parish through the 2010s and into the Hurricane Ian (2022) era. Reported by the Archdiocese of Miami / Florida Catholic as 'pastor of Jesús Obrero (Jesus the Worker)' coordinating relief for the farmworker/Hispanic community.
- Rev. Benjamin Casimircurrent
Current Administrator of San Jose Mission and Jesus the Worker Parish; thanked Bishop Dewane at the March 22, 2026 blessing of the new Catechetical Center.