Father Joseph W. McKiernan, 92, died July 26 at Christopher House, Worcester. Funeral Mass will be 11 a.m., Aug. 1, St. Mark Church, 356 Boston Rd., Sutton.

CHARLTON - Volleyball courts are built and in use next to St. Joseph Church. It was a Scouting project for David Abbott.

WORCESTER – It will be a change for the better when families move into the new Youville House on Caroline Street in the coming weeks.

BLACKSTONE – A new pro-life monument was blessed at St. Paul Parish July 19. Afterwards, parishioners asked about joining the pro-life team.

BLACKSTONE – St. Theresa Parish receives a relic of its patron’s parents from a bishop whose parents were the first couple married in the parish.

Bishop McManus was appointed acting chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty.

Link to Diocesan Dispatch for July 22.

Assumption College to start a nursing program this fall, a physician assistant graduate program, and has named of its new business school.

The Youth Ministry Office of the Worcester Diocese is offering local youth groups activities that include adventurous excursions.

STURBRIDGE - The 132nd annual Novena to St. Anne, held July 18-26 at St. Anne Shrine, includes a new ethnic group this year - Brazilians.

Experiencing the presence of God and his people was important to those from the diocese who attended Steubenville East .

"When a high school student is the one that leads the family, lives are changed,” Michael Gormley said at Steubenville East youth conference July 13.

SHREWSBURY - The Xaverian Brothers have released the names of six members who served at St. John’s High School and have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.

Speakers at a seminar about the “ROE Act” called the abortion expansion attempts an enormous human rights issue.

Paige and Ashley DeFreitas established Up With Books to give children from low-income families access to books.

With enrollment sitting at 105, the Diocese of Worcester will keep its commitment to open St. Bernard Central Catholic High School.

Four women from Catholic Charities Worcester County traveled to the border city of Laredo, Texas, to help people seeking asylum in the US.

On July 4 members of the St. Paul Cathedral Parish gathered to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on the 150th anniversary of the first Mass in the church.

Father Alfredo Raúl Porras talks about people and experiences that paved his journey to the priesthood. He was born in Venezuela but went to high school in Worcester.

Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office, initiated a pro-life day of reflection Saturday to put prayer first and to respond to pro-lifers’ weariness. Msgr. James P. Moroney led the day.