WORCESTER - Father Henry A. Donoghue, 83, passed away peacefully on March 7 at the Rose Monahan Hospice Home. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Wednesday, March 1. Bishop McManus was the principal celebrant.

BARRE – On the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in 2015, Deacon Brian Gadbois – who serves St. Francis of Assisi Parish – and his wife, Nissa Gadbois, adopted two children from an orphanage in Bulgaria. But the couple didn’t want their connection to Nicholas and Olivia’s native country to end with the adoption.

WESTBOROUGH – Aaron Linn loves going to Mass; the fact that he is autistic has not gotten in the way. His mother, Ellen, is thankful to the SPRED program for helping her son to know the love of Jesus and to share it within the parish community.

Partners in Charity turns to St. Pope Paul VI to be the inspiration for the 2019 appeal. With the theme, “Generate Joy,” the annual campaign, which raises $5 million, begins in many parishes this weekend with in-pew collections.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Lent comes late this year. Late though it may be, most of us are not immediately eager for the austerities of Lent.

WORCESTER – God is doing something new. That message emerged as Catholics met to seek God’s will for the charismatic renewal locally. Father Diego A. Buritica, who was appointed episcopal liaison to diocesan charismatic renewal communities last October, hosted “Lord, Light the Fire Again!”

Robert Lewis Jr., chief executive officer of The BASE, will be speaker May 12 at the 103rd commencement exercises for Assumption College at the DCU Center. He and Sister Annie Credidio, of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, will receive honorary degrees during the ceremony, the college announced.

Six former competitors and a coach have been named to the College of the Holy Cross Athletic Hall of Fame the Holy Cross Varsity Club has announced. They will be formally inducted at the Varsity Club’s annual dinner May 4 in the Hogan Campus Center.

Angel Rojas, the TV ministry’s longest-serving volunteer, recalls when Masses were recorded in Worcester to be broadcast later. The Worcester Diocese began live daily telecasts on Feb. 8, 1989, according to Raymond L. Delisle, chancellor and director of the diocesan communications ministry.

Teaching today’s generation the art of conversation was part of the conversation at the inauguration of Anna Maria College’s speaker series about the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

Making Sense of Bioethics - By Father Tad Pacholczyk -- If we are willing to make an exception to the rule that direct killing of an innocent human being is always wrong, then it only becomes a matter of “haggling over the price.” If killing by euthanasia can be allowed for a deeply emotional reason, it can certainly be allowed for other reasons too...

Massachusetts' bishops address Catholics about sex abuse summit Massachusetts bishops are addressing the state’s Catholics prior to the Feb. 21-24 Vatican Summit on the sexual abuse crisis. It is a crisis, they say, “that has again enveloped the life of the Church.

Four diocesan priests spent three days on the U.S.-Mexican border recently to observe the ministries of the Catholic Church that serve migrants on both sides of the border. The trip was under the auspices of the Catholic Extension’s Mission Immersion Program for Pastors.

WORCESTER – Rising costs have resulted in a total operating deficit of $1.4M for the Diocese of Worcester, according to financial statements and the annual report issued for the 2018 fiscal year.

WEBSTER – Weaving plastic bags into mats for the homeless. Using “trash” to organize the art teacher’s supplies. These were among ways students at All Saints Academy took care of people and the earth during Catholic Schools Week last week.

Stephanie Walsh, a 17-year-old from St. Paul Parish in Warren, came back from World Youth Day in Panama wanting to learn more and to start a youth group. Matthew J. Hart, youth ministry coordinator for middle school and high school at St. John Paul II Parish in Southbridge, hopes to follow up with pilgrims to interest others in the next WYD in Portugal in 2022.

The welcome outreach of perinatal hospice February 4 During the course of pregnancy, receiving an adverse prenatal diagnosis can be a tremendously jolting experience for parents. In severe cases, physicians may tell them that their unborn child has a condition that is “incompatible with life.” Making Sense out of Bioethics by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.

Catholic Schools Week is being observed throughout the Diocese this week. Students took in a Railers game Saturday. Bishop McManus celebrated Mass at a number of schools. Classrooms had special guests, and creative projects. Check out photo albums too.

Six speakers, including Catholic apologist Trent Horn, will present at the 19th annual Worcester Catholic Men’s Conference, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 6, at Assumption College.

SPENCER - Father Martin P. Donahue, 89, died Tuesday at the UMass-Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. Father Donahue was a priest of the Diocese of Worcester for 57 years. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, Feb. 2, at 11 a.m. in St. Paul Cathedral, Chatham Street, Worcester.