News - February 2023 RSS Feed

Sister Theresa Khen Doan, MPV, 91 of Worcester, passed away peacefully Feb. 18 at St. Mary’s Healthcare Center. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. in Our Lady of Vilna Church, 151 Sterling St., Worcester.

WORCESTER – The St. Francis Xavier novena that still draws crowds to St. John Parish on Temple Street marks its 100th anniversary this year. The March 4-12 devotion survived the coronavirus pandemic and has drawn prominent preachers and longtime devotees

Lent is a time of self-examination and adjustment that better prepares us to celebrate Easter and to attain the end for which God created us, Heaven. The measure of that examination is the Gospel, including the Commandments and the Beatitudes.

BOYLSTON – Partners in Charity helps children attend Catholic school, struggling families get support, and young people renew and share their faith. It’s a way for people to “be the face of Christ” to others – to evangelize. Those reminders were shared at the annual appeal’s kickoff Feb. 16 at St. Mary of the Hills Parish.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, residents and radio co-hosts, Adam Minihan and David Niles, will speak at the Annual Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference, scheduled for Saturday, March 25, at the Plourde Center at Assumption University.

Two years ago, we began an Ash Wednesday Collection to support the retired priests of our diocese. We appreciate your past generosity and ask you, as part of your Lenten almsgiving, to consider prayerfully a sacrificial gift to support those, who through the decades have supported you and your family. 

DUDLEY - St. Anthony of Padua Parish's social justice ministry has joined Father Daniel Moreno in trying to raise $25,000 for 28 solar panels to provide power for a soup kitchen in Colombia.

WORCESTER - With federal pandemic-era benefits scheduled to be cut next month, Massachusetts legislators should be urged to pass a supplemental budget and continue free school meals for all students. That was a key message presented Monday at the third annual food pantry summit.

SHREWSBURY - The annual Ash Wednesday Collection assists the Diocese of Worcester in providing for the needs of retired diocesan priests. Oftentimes, it is the retired priests themselves who help each other nurture their spiritual and physical well-being.

Father Chris Alar, a member of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, will be a featured speaker at the 22nd Annual Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference, scheduled for March 25 at Assumption University.

SHREWSBURY – Autistic individuals are usually excluded from religious services and other social events, and have difficulty getting a job, Gregory Rosen told fellow Knights of Columbus on Autism Sunday.

Manliness and being eucharistic men are among topics for the 22nd annual Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference. It is being held March 25 in the Plourde Center at Assumption University, 500 Salisbury St., beginning at 8 a.m.

NORTHBOROUGH - Rob Surette has speed painted all over the country, appeared on national television many times and custom painted for celebrities, but he always enjoys returning to St. Bernadette School. Mr. Surette dazzled students and faculty with his speed painting presentation and inspirational talk, music and videos at St. Bernadette School on Feb. 2.

WORCESTER – Vocations – especially parenting, teaching and religious life – were highlighted during Catholic Schools Week at Venerini Academy. Eighth-graders hosted a Mass, a religious sister told about her vocation and student council officers and members were inducted.

Assumption University junior Emilie Janelle has attended several Catholic retreats since she was in high school, but the SEEK23 Catholic conference in St. Louis, Missouri, taught her something she’ll never forget.

SPRINGFIELD – Sister Patricia Johnson, 87, formerly Sister David Robert, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, died in Baystate Medical Center on Jan. 28.

Bishop McManus has published an updated report following the review of all cases of sexual abuse of minors since the Worcester Diocese was established in 1950. This report serves as an update to the 2004 report by then Bishop Daniel P. Reilly.

GILBERTVILLE – Want to meet the saints? Then come along with The Catholic Free Press to St. Aloysius Catholic School. It’s Catholic Schools Week, and on Tuesday students are dressed as saints. (That’s one way of getting out of uniforms!)

FITCHBURG – Brian Gardiner, the father of St. Bernard’s High School students, was moved to help families get free college financial aid services from his friend’s company, Campus Bound. Read how families have saved thousands of dollars.

WEBSTER – Like any good teacher, Bishop McManus asked and answered questions Sunday at a Mass kicking off Catholic Schools Week for St. Joseph Elementary School.