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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.

January 30, 2019, WORCESTER, MA -- The Diocese of Worcester announced today that Linda Anderson has been appointed as the Principal of St. Bernard’s Central Catholic High School in Fitchburg.  The appointment was made by Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester upon the recommendation of Dr. David Perda, Superintendent of Catholic Schools and Michael J. Clark, Associate Superintendent of Secondary Schools.  Ms. Anderson replaces Mr. Robert Blanchard, Jr., who will remain active at St. Bernard after serving as principal of the school since 2004.

LEOMINSTER – January 27 was Sister Anna Farragher’s birthday, but it was no ordinary observance for the member of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sitting in her wheelchair and surrounded by family and friends, she celebrated her 100th birthday. “It feels wonderful,” she said.

A conference about homelessness gave St. Peter-Marian students the chance to apply what they’ve learned at school about human dignity – and to plan a Catholic Schools Week project. Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, is using the theme: “Catholic Schools: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed.”

Three Catholic school students were among the four essay contest winners at the 34th annual Worcester County Community Breakfast Jan. 21 honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Quinsigamond Community College.

“Everyone should have the choice to live and it’s important to stand up for that.” That’s why Emily Johnson said she went on the March for Life in Washington, D.C., January 18.

Legislation to legalize physician assisted suicide in Massachusetts has been filed again. Roger Dubuque, a member of Christ the King Parish in Worcester and co-chair of Witness for Life, said he senses that it could pass this time because “we’re starting to lose more and more pro-life representatives."

Bishop McManus will dedicate the Early Childhood Center at St. Bernadette School to the memory of Sister Marguerite Timothy Young, SND, on Jan. 28, during Catholic Schools Week.

Recently, while listening to a podcast, Sarah Berry, a mother of two small children, was inspired after hearing about Endow, a nationwide association founded on St. John Paul II’s “Letter to Women,” which advocates for the dignity of women.

Food pantries share ways to improve The Second Annual Food Pantry Summit drew about 30 people to St. John Parish’s St. Francis Xavier Center Monday.

“Only older Catholics like to go to Mass, adoration and confession. The faith is dying. It should be more fun.” Friends say such things to Dale Brown, a student at Nichols College in Dudley. But he has a different perspective after attending the SEEK2019: Encounter Something More” conference.

The new year started more than a month ago, with the start of the new liturgical year, for the diocese’s African Ministry. “On the first Sunday of Advent we declared the Year of the Family, with the theme “Ut Omnes Unum Sint (that they may be one),” said Father Enoch K. Kyeremateng, chaplain