Catholic Charities, Worcester County has opened an office and home care center at 200 Main St. in Milford. The new office will allow Catholic Charities to become more involved in a larger, more diverse, community, according to Timothy J. McMahon, executive director.

During this 50th anniversary year of “Humanae Vitae,” those attending the Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference will hear from an expert on the subject. Janet E. Smith, Ph.D., author of “Self-Gift: Essays on ‘Humanae Vitae’ and the Thought of John Paul II” will speak at the conference, Saturday, Nov. 10 at Assumption College. The title of her talk is, “The Sexual Mess that We Are In and How We Got Here.”

By Catholic News Service SPENCER (CNS) – A funeral Mass will be celebrated Nov. 3 at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer for Trappist Father Thomas Keating, a leading figure in the centering prayer movement that got its start in the 1970s. He died Oct. 25 at the abbey.

The Vatican Signatura, the Holy See’s highest court, has rejected appeals by the Mount Carmel Preservation Society aimed at saving Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish at Our Lady of Loreto Church, said Bishop McManus was told of the Signatora’s decision when he visited the Vatican recently.

Equality and friendship were themes sounded for the visit 15 Haitian priests made to the diocese last week. They came from Haiti to renew covenants between their parishes and parishes here.

Bishop McManus, in a message to the priests of the diocese, has asked that the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel be recited by the faithful at Mass. The prayer, “which the Church has prayed in turbulent times,” was composed in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII, the bishop said.

Msgr. F. Gilles Roy, 91, of Worcester, passed away peacefully, Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Rose Monahan Hospice Home. A Mass of Christian burial was held Saturday, Oct. 27, at St. Cecilia’s Church, 180 Mechanic St., Leominster.

At the “Celebrate Priesthood!” gala in St. Vincent Hospital’s atrium Thursday night, hundreds of people gathered for a "Taste of the Diocese," but more importantly to honor their spiritual leaders. The event raises money for retired priests.

Felician Sister Jeanne Marie Akalski accepted the annual Retired Religious award Sunday for her twin sister, Sister Mary Valenta Akalski, who, among other things, taught religion to kindergartners at St. Joseph Elementary School in Webster. Sister Mary Valenta died in June.

The possibility of starting a new Catholic school in Milford is the focus of a survey just posted online. Father Peter J. Joyce, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Milford, told The Catholic Free Press this week about his dream for a school closely tied to the parish in teaching the faith and incorporating diversity.

It was saved from the wrecker’s ball once. An attempt to save it again has failed. So now Notre Dame des Canadiens Church is coming down. It has been a landmark facing the Worcester Common since it was dedicated on Sept. 15, 1929.

WORCESTER – Singing and dancing. A consecration to the Blessed Mother – inspired by an unexpected voice. Awards for church and city leaders. These were among ways the Ghanaian Catholic community celebrated its 10th anniversary at St. Joan of Arc Parish Sunday, Oct. 7.

SOUTHBRIDGE – The Hispanic Catholic community in town celebrated its 60th anniversary with Mass, memories and ministers past and present. Bishop McManus and Father Kenneth R. Cardinale, pastor of St. John Paul II Parish, greeted the 200-plus worshippers in Spanish and they applauded.

The devout Catholic has initiated a project called the Rosary Challenge, which has been implemented at Annunciation Parish (consisting of Holy Rosary Church and Holy Spirit Chapel) in Gardner; St. Mary Parish in Orange and St. Denis Parish in Ashburnham. In this Month of the Holy Rosary and throughout the year, the project raises awareness of the beautiful devotion.

With the help of Flocknote, the diocesan email platform and eCatholic, the diocesan website platform, Prenger Solutions, the Communications Ministry and the Office of Stewardship and Development collaborated over the summer to construct Sharing Our Blessings 2018.

Bishops were blessed – and a blessing – at last month’s national gathering of Hispanic Catholics, local participants said. They returned from the fifth National Encounter of Hispanic/Latino Ministry enthusiastic, looking to the future.

A group of about 60 people marked the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology and the environment, last Thursday by marching to three businesses on Park Avenue in a campaign against climate change. The group, called the October 4th Coalition to Stop Climate Change, was organized by the SS. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker of 52 Mason St.

Bishop McManus said climate change is an urgent moral issue which adds to the hardship of the poor. He spoke at the Worcester Catholic Environmental Stewardship Conference Sunday held at the College of the Holy Cross and sponsored by the diocese.

Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School held the ribbon cutting for the Joseph Tham Pham Life Sciences Biotech Learning Center Sept. 14. It was Founders Day, when the school honors the Sisters of St. Anne. After the ribbon cutting, the family and friends squeezed into the school’s tiny chapel for the baptism of Josephine Hannah Linh Yao, daughter of Han Pham and her husband, Spencer Yao. 

BERLIN - Bishop McManus will be principal celebrant at a Mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2,  in St. Joseph the Good Provider  Church for Father Robert M. Spellman, 74, who died Sept. 22 at UMass Medical Center in Worcester.