Lynne Martineau, a member of Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer and mother of Father Alan J. Martineau, wasn’t the only mother attending the ordination which nearly filled St. Paul Cathedral Saturday. Luz-Elena Guzman came in from Colombia to celebrate with her son Juan-Sebastian Sanchez Guzman, who was ordained a transitional deacon, in preparation for priesthood.

WORCESTER – As Notre Dame Health Care celebrated its 25th anniversary Sunday, a sister who’s seen it from different vantage points recalled the nuns’ initial reactions to the new place.

Sister Mary Daniel Malloy, R.S.M., a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 24, at Mercy Center in Dallas, Pennsylvania, under the loving care of the Sisters of Mercy. Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, June 30 at 11 a.m. at Christ the King Church, 1052 Pleasant St., Worcester,

WEBSTER – After a life given to the Lord Jesus Christ as a Felician Franciscan, Sister Mary Valenta Akalski died on June 23 in Worcester. She was 78 years old and had been a Felician Sister for 58 years.

His grandmother’s example inspired his vocation – and his plan for how to live it out. And that resonates with what he’s heard from Pope Francis. Deacon Victor Alonso Sierra López shared these core aspects of his journey to the priesthood as he prepared for his June 23 ordination at St. Paul Cathedral.

Doing psychotherapy with victims of civil conflict in Colombia showed Deacon Javier De Jesus Julio De Arco the importance of priestly ministry.He is being ordained a priest for the Worcester Diocese. And he has a goal for his priesthood.

Permanent deacons were challenged to promote family life and go out into the world, fired by the examples of Jesus and local clergy. Father Warren Savage was speaking for the 40th anniversary of the permanent diaconate in the diocese Saturday at St. Joan of Arc Parish.

The permanent diaconate, restored to the Catholic Church on Sept. 29, 1964, by the Second Vatican Council, became a reality for the Diocese of Worcester on June 24, 1978, with the ordination of 20 permanent deacons at St. Paul Cathedral.

    A controversial papal encyclical, revisited for its 50th anniversary, generated talk about societal woes and how to respond Monday. Christopher Klofft, a theology professor at Assumption College, was giving a talk about Humanae Vitae at his parish, Immaculate Conception in Worcester. 

Bishop McManus has appointed Michael J. Clark assistant superintendent of secondary schools in the Worcester Diocese. Mr. Clark, who will begin working on July 2, was recommended for the new position by David Perda, superintendent of Catholic schools.

Bishop McManus has announced the appointment of three parish administrators, and five associate pastors and a transitional deacon, four of whom are to be ordained June 23 at St. Paul Cathedral. The bishop has also announced the assignment of three priests to specialized ministries, the retirement of four priests, and his approval of assignments for Augustinians of the Assumption.

WORCESTER – A new shrine – a response to a prominent devotion among Hispanics – was dedicated in the vestibule at St. Paul Cathedral June 3. Bishop McManus blessed the shrine to the Divino Niño (the Divine Child, Jesus) following the Spanish community’s Corpus Christi Mass and procession.

A diocesan women’s conference – inspired by insufficient catechesis decades ago and men’s conferences recently – is to be held Nov. 10 at Assumption College. It’s an attempt to help women serve God and others.

You can make a Cursillo – a retreat-like weekend – once in your life. But you can spend the rest of your life living out what you gain there. Leaders of the Cursillo movement in the Worcester Diocese are working on new – and old – ways to help people do that.

Michele Norris, award-winning journalist, spoke at the 172nd commencement of the College of the Holy Cross, held Friday in the DCU Center.

“Everybody was distraught” upon learning that St. Bernard Parish was being merged with St. Camillus de Lellis Parish across the city, Maureen Hayes said recently. That was in 2010. But that sorrow has turned to joy.

WORCESTER – “The Catholic Church stands with you,” Bishop McManus told immigrants at a special Pentecost Mass Saturday evening at St. Paul Cathedral. He tried to assure those who fear having to leave the United States that the Church will do everything it can to protect them. 

Lay people are called to change the culture through the lens of the Church, but in the United States they have not picked up the baton, Bishop McManus said during a presentation about physician assisted suicide May 17.

WORCESTER – They came, they served, they found community. Now they’re retiring. There’s life to be lived, family to enjoy, ministry to continue, in different ways. Beth Tobin and Dawn VanRiper are finishing up years of service – to students and adults – at St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic  Junior/Senior High School.

Developing a relationship with Jesus, through his Mother, was at the heart of two talks given to healthcare professionals May 10 and 11. Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho, a medical doctor from Portugal, was special guest at the 14th annual Divine Mercy Medicine, Bioethics & Spirituality Conference, held at the College of the Holy Cross