News - June 2023 RSS Feed

A statement by Catholic Democrats in support of a legal right to abortion, falsely invokes Church teachings, bishops say. Three congressmen from Massachusetts signed the letter.

When Sister Mary Anne of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was a little girl growing up in a devout Protestant household in Singapore, she couldn’t have imagined becoming a religious sister.

WEBSTER – Neither rain, nor a pandemic, nor the challenges of getting a doll house, stopped the St. Joseph Festival these last 50 years.

What are you doing this summer? If you’re in middle school or high school, the Diocese of Worcester is offering new free programs that will be fun and help connect you to the Church at the same time.

(OSV News) – The U.S. bishops approved a new National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry to multiply pastoral responses addressing the realities of close to 30 million Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. “We were waiting for this document to come out,” said Deacon Franklin B. Lizardo, who serves at St. Stephen and Holy Family parishes in Worcester.

Abortion pill reversal and sexual identity were among topics addressed at the 18th annual Medicine, Bioethics, and Spirituality Conference organized by Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy.

It should come as no surprise that a documentary about the St. John’s Seminary basketball team isn’t a typical sports film. “It was never about winning or losing for us,” the film’s director Ann Gennaro said about “Souls in the Game.”

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur tell how their focus and outreaches have changed over the years to respond to needs. Notre Dame Health Care Center is one of two entities the sisters still sponsor in the Worcester Diocese; the other is Notre Dame Academy in Worcester.

As Father’s Day approached, priests and their fathers spoke of their love and respect for each other and ways they live out their faith and vocations. “God used marriage to help me understand priesthood,” said Father James B. Callahan, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Barre.

FITCHBURG – Africans took the presence of Christ to the streets on Corpus Christi Sunday from St. Anthony of Padua Church. A procession, Mass and lunch brought Africans from different countries and parish communities together.

Father James S. Mazzone was welcomed into the Massachusetts State Police Chaplain Corps. last week. The pastor of St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton, was sworn in as a chaplain by Col. John Mawn Jr.

Venerini Sister Hilda Ponte is celebrating her 90th birthday and her 70th anniversary of religious profession this month with a Mass and lunch with her community and family. She was born on June 11, 1933, in Providence.

Several pastors in the diocese are to change parishes this summer, and some other priests are getting new assignments. Bishop McManus did not announce any retirements, but two pastors are becoming senior priests. All changes are effective July 1.

The sacrifice men make to answer God’s call – and joy that they did – were themes sounded by those celebrating the diocese’s two newest priests. Bishop McManus ordained Fathers Peter Bui and Gustavo Correa to the priesthood Saturday at St. Paul Cathedral.

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, often called Corpus Christi. On this feast we give special attention to Christ’s presence in the Eucharist ... The Eucharist should always be central to our lives; it is the “source and summit” of life in the Church.

St. Anne Parish in Southborough is to give scholarships based on faith and service to two graduates who helped others despite restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liam Wintroath, 28, said he’s honored, but also somewhat pleasantly surprised, that he’s been hired as principal of St. Mary Elementary School in Shrewsbury.

People in the Diocese of Worcester are ministering to people in their primary language. They work with mostly seniors who are homebound, hospitalized or in nursing homes.

WORCESTER – Little Sisters of the Assumption came from Paris recently to see their congregation’s members, and to visit the ministries which aging sisters are passing on to lay people.