A look back at 2018

The Hispanic and the African communities were active in 2018, growing, sharing and evangelizing.
Three bishops celebrated significant anniversaries, and so did the diaconate program. Both men and women hosted conventions this year and youth met at rallies, all to build up the faith. The Catholic faithful continued their financial and prayerful support of diocesan ministries. Looking at the highlights for 2018, one can easily see that the people of the Diocese of Worcester are doing their part to transform the culture. 

 

 

JANUARY

 

St. John Parish in Worcester continued its program of opening the lower church as a shelter for the homeless and those who needed a place to sleep when the temperature dipped below freezing. The church can accommodate 50 people; women in the lower church and men in the church hall. Those who are sheltered there also had access to the St. Francis Xavier Center, the parish’s food pantry and soup kitchen, which operates five days a week throughout the year serving hot meals. There also is an annual coat and boot distribution program. Other organizations that provide food and some clothing are the SS. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker House, 52 Mason St., and the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker House, 93 Piedmont St.

 

Father Richard G. Roger, 80, former pastor of Holy Family Parish, Worcester, died Jan. 6. He was ordained a priest  May 7, 1964, by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan, in St. Paul Cathedral. He was associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Worcester; Sacred Heart of Jesus and Notre Dame parishes, Southbridge, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Winchendon. He served as pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Webster; Holy Cross Parish, East Templeton, and Holy Family Parish, Worcester. He also served as resident chaplain at Anna Maria College, Paxton. He also served as diocesan moderator of the Marriage Encounter Movement. He retired July 6, 2013.

 

Father Joseph R. Bielonko, 85, died Jan. 14. He was born in Poland and was ordained a priest in Warsaw on April 12, 1959. He moved to the United States and was incardinated into the Diocese of Worcester in 1973. He was associate pastor at Our Lady of Jasna Gora Parish, Clinton; St. Hedwig Parish, Southbridge; St. Joseph Parish, Webster;  St. Ann Parish, North Oxford, and St. Andrew Bobola Parish, Dudley.

Several Haitian students and adults visited the Worcester diocese for a week. The trip was arranged by the diocesan Haitian Apostolate. The apostolate oversees the twinning of the Diocese of Worcester with the Diocese of Les Cayes in Haiti. The visitors met with sponsors who donate about $200 a year to help pay for their education, a backpack of school supplies and shoes for Christmas.

The Haitians visited classrooms and had lunch with students at St. Mary School in Shrewsbury, received a blessing from Bishop McManus, sang and prayed in the Chancery chapel, had a pizza party and visited the zoo in Providence.

 

In 45 years since the Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which decriminalized abortion, 60 million abortions have been performed, Bishop McManus said. He was speaking at a send-off Mass for people from the diocese who were traveling to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life. About 130 people from schools and parishes traveled on three buses, according to Allison LeDoux, diocesan director of the Respect Life Office. Others arranged their own transportation to the march.

 

The diocese finished the fiscal year with a deficit of $278,802 or slightly more than 1 percent of its annual budget of $26,169.629, according to the annual report on financial activities. The deficit was offset by unrealized gains on investments. If those unrealized gains were included, the diocese would have finished the fiscal year with a surplus of $1,116,883, according to the report.

 

The Congregation of the Clergy in the Vatican upheld Bishop McManus’ decision to relegate Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church to profane but not sordid use. The bishop made the decision to close the church in May  2016,  because of “serious deterioration” of the building. After the bishop rejected a request to change his decision, a group, calling itself the Mount Carmel Preservation Society, filed an appeal to the Congregation of the Clergy.

FEBRUARY

 

The Hispanic community in the Worcester diocese told Bishop McManus what they think is needed for evangelization and ministry at the V Encuentro gathering in St. Paul Cathedral. V Encuentro stands for fifth encounter. Nationally, it was the fifth National Encounter of Hispanic/Latino Ministry under the auspices of the U.S. Catholic Bishops. In Worcester, the community requested education, outreach to youth, a full time director of Hispanic ministry to design a pastoral plan, promote vocations and help with immigration. The bishop said he was “very edified by the whole experience; the faith among these people is very strong.” He said the Encuentro will  “bring a new type of vision and energy” and has refocused the diocesan vision on ethnic ministry, in this case Hispanic ministry. (Photo above by Amory Navarro)

 

Gerard E. Goggins, 79, former executive editor of The Catholic Free Press, died Feb. 1. A native New Yorker, he was born in the Flushing section and grew up in Sayville, Long Island. He graduated from Assumption College and earned a master’s degree in English literature from Boston College. He worked as a reporter and editor for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for 25 years. When he retired he was city editor of the Evening Gazette, the last to hold that job before the Gazette and the Telegram were merged. He was named executive editor of The Catholic Free Press in September 1991 by Bishop Timothy J. Harrington. He retired in 1998 and became president of Ambassador Books. He retired from Ambassador in 2011. He was the author of several books, including “The Anonymous Disciple.” Mr. Goggins also coached the Auburn High School girls’ field hockey team for several years, which won more than 100 games while he was coach.

 

Bishop McManus opened the 2018 annual Partners in Charity fund drive on Feb. 12. Michael P. Gillespie, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, said the drive had already received more than $700,000 in gifts and pledges. The goal was set at $5 million.

 

Emmanuel Radio announced it would add two FM stations to its broadcasting network. 99.1 WNEB FM in Worcester and 101.1 WESO FM in Southbridge. They were to join Emmanuel Radio’s AM stations, 1230 WNEB AM, Worcester, and 970 WESO AM, Southbridge. All stations would broadcast EWTN and local programs, according to Cindy R. Dorsey, Emmanuel Radio general manager. In the end, only 101.1 WESO FM in Southbridge was added.

 

Bishop McManus blessed the newly renovated and expanded St. Matthew Church in Southborough to meet the needs of a growing parish, according to Father James B. Flynn, pastor. The work cost about $1.1 million and nearly doubled the capacity of the church. The original church was built in 1877. The work was completed in about six months and, because of a successful fund drive in the parish, it was all paid for, Father Flynn said.

 

MARCH

 

Bishop McManus designated four parishes to be open for 24 hours as hosts of “24 Hours for the Lord.” It included adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, confession, Benediction and celebration of the Mass. The parishes included Christ the King, Worcester; Holy Spirit Chapel in Annunciation Parish, Gardner; St. Joseph, Charlton, and St. Roch, Oxford.

 

The bishop said the diocese would continue “Come Home to God’s Mercy,” during which every parish was asked to open the church for eucharistic adoration and confession on Tuesday nights during Lent.

 

Prayer services were held at several schools in the diocese for the 17 students and staff members of Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, Florida, who were killed by a gunman Feb. 14. Taking part were St. Bernadette Elementary, Northborough; St. Stephen Elementary, Worcester; Trinity Catholic Academy, Southbridge; St. Joseph Elementary, Webster; St. John High, Shrewsbury, and Holy Name Central Catholic, Worcester.

 

Volunteers at St. Mary Parish, Shrewsbury, assembled 10,000 meal packages. Each package contained enough food for four people. It was the third year that the St. Mary Social Justice Ministry paired with Rise to Hunger, formerly Stop Hunger, a non-profit that facilitates food-packaging events and helps distribute the food through Catholic Relief Services, among other organizations. The packages contain dehydrated rice, vegetables, soy vitamins and is sent to impoverished areas of West Africa. 

 

The anniversaries of three bishops, an archbishop, a monsignor and 13 priests’ ordinations were celebrated at a Mass March 27 in St. Paul Cathedral. They included Bishop McManus, Bishop Reilly and Bishop Rueger, Archbishop Michael Banach, apostolic nuncio to Senegal and Cape Verde and apostolic delegate to Mauritania; Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone and Fathers C. Romeo Lamothe, Michael F. Bafaro, John F. Gee, Charles J. Dutram, Andre M. Gariepy, James A. Houston, Thomas E. Mahoney, William C. Konicki,  Francis A. Roberge, Rinaldo Damian, Robert D. Bruso, William E. Champlin and Ryszard W. Polek.

 

Men from throughout New England filled the Plourde Recreation Center at Assumption College March 17  for the 18th annual Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference. At the day-long event they heard speakers and had the opportunity to take part in the sacrament of reconciliation and the celebration of Mass. 

About 50 middle school students and adult leaders attended a diocesan youth rally at St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School. Theme of the rally was “Light in the Darkness.”

 

APRIL

 

Bishop McManus presented pro-life awards to four people at the annual Mass for Life at St. Paul Cathedral. The awardees were Elinor Reilly, a member of the cathedral parish and a senior and pro-life leader at the College of the Holy Cross; Father Walter J. Riley, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, Worcester, and a chaplain of the Worcester Fire Department; Corinn Dahm of St. Bernadette Parish, Northborough, and Martha Dolan of Worcester. Students from 19 diocesan Catholic schools who attended heard Bishop McManus say that each person is a creature of God with a dignity that comes from God. He said that today people live in a throw-away culture. He spoke of people being killed by chemicals in Syria and the loss in the United States of babies to abortion and people to suicide. He said no one has the right to take life from another person.

 

Father James M. Hoey, 79, a Worcester native and pastor of Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer for 20 years, died April 5 in St. Vincent Hospital on his 79th birthday. He was ordained a priest  Feb. 13, 1965 by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan in St. Paul Cathedral. He  served as associate pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Worcester; St. Theresa Parish, Harvard; St. Joseph Parish, Auburn; St, Joseph Parish, Worcester, and St. Mark Parish, Sutton. He was pastor at St. Theresa Parish, Harvard; and Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Leominster before being named to Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish, Spencer, in 1996. He retired in 2016. When he served in Gardner he was chaplain for Gardner juvenile court, United Fund board of directors and the Monadnock Council, Boy Scouts of America. In Worcester he was chaplain at St. Mary Schools.

 

Msgr. Francis J. Scollen, pastor of St. Peter Parish and St. Andrew Mission, was honored by the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, New England, with the Madonna Della Strada award for his record of service with the Black community in Worcester. The IVC was founded by Jesuit priests in the 1930s to provide men and women with opportunities to serve others.

 

MAY

 

Bishop McManus announced that the diocese would begin a two-year capital campaign to address “critical diocesan and parish capital issues.” No overall goal was set. The bishop said that parish goals would be established based on their average annual offertory income. “Each parish will receive 40 percent of the funds it raises up to the target and 60 percent of what it raises over the goal,” Bishop McManus said. It is the diocese’s second capital campaign. “Forward in Faith,” the first capital campaign almost 20 years ago, aimed at $40 million but raised $50 million. 

 

The Augustinians of the Assumption renewed the order’s commitment to St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge by establishing a new, three-person community there. Father Dennis Gallagher, North American provincial, named Father Alex Castro pastor. Father Peter R. Precourt, pastor since 2005, was to remain until the end of the year to help with the transition. Father John Franck was named full-time associate pastor and Brother Paul Henry was to return to teach adult education classes there. The parish is in the Worcester diocese but the Assumptionists have run the parish and the St. Anne Shrine since 1955.

 

The Worcester Chapter, Knights of Columbus, hosted a party for Bishop Reilly, to celebrate his 90th birthday and 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. A party was held at St. John High School in Shrewsbury. Bishop McManus gave the invocation. Guests included Lt. Gov. Karen Polito and Paul O’Sullivan, Knights State Deputy. Later a Mass was celebrated in the chapel of Notre Dame du Lac Health Care Center on Plantation St., Worcester,  where Bishop Reilly lives.

 

Blessed Sacrament Parish received a $10,000 grant from the New England Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine to educate and support families dealing with addiction. The grant will pay part-time salaries for a coordinator and a substance use disorder counselor.

 

The diocesan School Department created the new position of associate superintendent of secondary schools to connect more closely the operation of the three schools. The associate superintendent will work directly with St. Peter-Marian, Holy Name and St. Bernard Central Catholic high schools, eliminating the need for a headmaster or president at those schools, according to a diocesan news release.

 

Owen  J. Murphy, 80, long-time editor of The Catholic Free Press, died May 10 at St. Vincent Hospital. He was born in Worcester, graduated from St. John High School, received a bachelor’s degree from St. Michael College in Vermont and a master’s degree in journalism from the College of Journalism at Columbia University in New York City. He was a reporter at the Providence Journal and the Worcester Telegram before he entered the U.S. Army in 1955. He wrote for the European edition of “Stars and Stripes” and for nearly two years was editor of “Hell on Wheels,” the newspaper for the 2nd Armored Division stationed in Germany. After he left the Army, he worked for The Catholic Free Press for 30 years. He joined the staff in 1957 and was named editor in 1959 by Bishop Flanagan. In 1990 he was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from his alma mater, St. Michael College. In 2000, at the request of Bishop Reilly, he wrote a “popular history” of the Worcester diocese called, “There Were Giants In Those Days.” He co-authored “Harvard to Harvard,” with Abbot Gabriel Gibbs, O.S.B., founding director of St. Benedict Abbey in the Still River section of Harvard.

 

JUNE

 

Bishop McManus told immigrants at a special Pentecost Mass at St. Paul Cathedral that “the Catholic Church stands with you. You are a great gift.” He said the United States is a nation of immigrants, that the Church stands with them to ensure that their God-given dignity and their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will be protected.

 

A new shrine, in response to a prominent devotion by Hispanics, was dedicated by Bishop McManus in the vestibule of St. Paul Cathedral. The bishop blessed the Shrine to the Divino Nino (the Divine Child) after the Hispanic community’s Corpus Christi Mass.

 

Michael J. Clark was appointed diocesan assistant superintendent of secondary schools by Bishop McManus. Mr. Clark has a bachelor’s degree in theology and political science from Assumption College and a master’s degree in theology from Boston College. He also was a member and former chairman of the religious studies faculty at St. John High School in Shrewsbury. While at St. John he completed an executive apprenticeship with the Southbridge Public Schools. Mr. Clark’s duties, under the direction of the diocesan school superintendent David Perda, call for him to plan, organize and direct the overall functioning of the diocesan secondary schools. He replaces the independent headmaster or president in those schools. The schools will continue to have principals and staff.

 

The diocese celebrated the 40th anniversary of the start of its permanent diaconate program with a Mass at St. Joan of Arc Parish celebrated by Bishop McManus. The Catholic Church restored permanent deacons at the Second Vatican Council in 1964. The diocese joined the program on June 24, 1978, with the ordination of 20 permanent deacons. Two of the 20 deacons were not Catholic. One was ordained for the Episcopal Church, the other for the Lutheran Church. The diocesan diaconate training  program was believed to be the first in the world with ecumenical overtones.

 

Three transitional deacons, Alan Martineau from Spencer and Javier Julio de Arco and Victor Sierra Lopez, both from Colombia, were ordained priests June 23 at St. Paul Cathedral. Juan Sebastian Sanchez Guzman of Colombia was ordained a transitional deacon in preparation for the priesthood.

 

 

Father Charles J. Dutram, 94, a native of Dudley, died June 29. He graduated from in 1946 from St. Louis High School in Webster. He worked in the First National Bank for five years, then was drafted into the service in 1943 during World War II. He served with an Army Air Force radar unit which served in England, then landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, just three days after the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944. He and his unit served with the U.S. First Army across France and Germany. He earned six battle stars, including one for the Battle of the Bulge. After his discharge from the service he worked in civilian life for five years before entering the seminary. He studied for the priesthood at St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and St. John Seminary in Brighton. He was ordained a priest Jan. 6, 1958 by Bishop John J. Wright in St. Paul Cathedral. He served as associate pastor at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Clinton; St. Christopher and St. Margaret Mary parishes, Worcester; St. Boniface Parish, Lunenburg; St. Patrick Parish, Whitinsville, and St. Leo Parish, Leominster. He was pastor at St. Joseph Parish Leicester; St. Peter Parish, Northbridge, and St. Bernadette Parish, Northborough. He retired from active ministry June 28, 1991.

 

JULY

 

Melkite Patriarch Youseff Absi visited Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on Hamilton Street and presided at a communion service attended by Bishop McManus and clergy from other churches in Worcester, including  St. Mary Syrian Orthodox Church of Shrewsbury and St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church and St. Mary Albanian Orthodox Church, both of Worcester. The visit was part of a visit by the patriarch to Melkite Greek Catholic churches in the United States. The Melkite Church is an Eastern rite church in full communion with the Holy See.

 

Father Raymond P. Messier, 76, died July 1. He was born in Worcester and raised in Auburn. He graduated from Holy Name Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School and studied for the priesthood in St. Hyacinthe Seminary and the Grand Seminary in Montreal, Quebec. He earned a master’s degree in theology from the American College in Louvain, Belgium. He was ordained a priest June 28, 1968, by Bishop Flanagan in St. Paul Cathedral. He retired from active ministry in 2003.

 

Father Paul O’Malley, 91, a  priest of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, died July 7.  He was born in Clinton, graduated from Clinton High School in 1994 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served in the Asian Pacific theater. He graduated in 1949  from the College of the Holy Cross. He earned a master’s degree from Fitchburg State College. He taught in Clinton and Boston. He was ordained a priest in 1957 at Columban Major Seminary. He served in the Philippines, Jamaca, Norwich, Conn., and Los Angeles.

 

Sister Marguerite Timothy Young, SND, associate superintendent for Worcester diocesan Catholic schools, and former principal at Julie Country Day School in Leominster for 27 years, died July 24. She received accolades from those with whom she worked and from across the country. She was born in Woburn. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1950 and made her final vows in 1958. She was a graduate of Emmanuel College and received a master’s degree in business education and did post graduate studies at Boston College, Notre Dame and Fitchburg State College. She taught for 21 years at Notre Dame-staffed schools in the Boston area before being named principal at Julie Country Day School.

 

Bishop McManus welcomed members of the Haitian Catholic Charismatic Renewal Congress at a three-day conference in the DCU Center, where he celebrated Mass on the first day. It was the 27th annual congress and the first time it was held in Worcester. Bishop McManus said Worcester has become a diocese of new immigrants, some of them Haitian. He said he was thankful for the Haitians here. About 2,400 people took part in the conference, most of them from the East coast, where most Haitian immigrants live, according to conference organizers. 

 

AUGUST

 

For the third consecutive year the annual Partners in Charity Appeal topped its $5 million goal. Michael P. Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development, said that the drive received $5,018,233 in gifts and pledges with three weeks to go before Aug. 31, the end of the fiscal year. “I thank God that we will be able to continue to serve tens of thousands of people who are impacted by the agencies and ministries supported by Partners in Charity,” Bishop McManus said. He thanked the people of the diocese, the priests and parish leaders for their efforts in the drive. Partners in Charity helps support 28 diocesan ministries and agencies.

 

Trees were damaged on the grounds of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster and had to be removed after a tornado struck Dudley and Webster Aug. 4. The storm was rated a high-end EF1 storm with wind speeds up to 110 miles an hour. Trees and branches were broken and toppled in both towns. Two buildings in Webster near the Dudley line were damaged and later demolished. Residents lost power for a time. No other Worcester diocesan church property reported damage.

 

Bishop McManus called the decision by Pope Francis to change the Catholic Catechism to say that the death penalty is “inadmissible” a significant development in Church doctrine. “It’s one that’s reasonable,” the bishop said. “It’s something the Catholic faithful should not be surprised by.”

 

Bishop McManus, in a letter to the diocese, renewed his commitment to zero tolerance when it involves sexual abuse in the diocese. He said the diocese will continue background checks of ordained and  lay staff and volunteers, continue training employees to recognize signs of abuse and how to report suspected abuse, and continue to report current or past allegations of abuse to authorities. He said that the diocese will not return accused clergy to any ministry and will continue to require letters of good standing for any clergy who serve, even temporarily, in the diocese. He said the diocese will continue to offer therapeutic assistance  to victims. He also asked for prayers for victims.

 

Bishop Santiago Rodriguez of the Diocese of San Pedro de Macoria in the Dominican Republic visited Worcester, celebrated Mass at St. Joseph Church and spoke about the celebration next year in his country of the 525th anniversary of the first Mass in the New World. The Church and the Dominican government are partnering in an effort to bring tourists to that country in pilgrimages to celebrate the anniversary.

 

Bishop McManus issued a decree that made Holy Trinity Evangelization Center in Leominster a quasi-parish in the care of the pastor of Holy Family of Nazareth Parish. Its name was changed to Capilla Santisima Trinidad (Most Holy Trinity Chapel). The center and chapel were established informally by Bishop Harrington in 1993.

 

SEPTEMBER 

 

St. Vincent Hospital, founded Sept. 8, 1893 by the Sisters of Providence, celebrated its 125th anniversary. Msgr. Peter R. Beaulieu, director of Mission Integration and Pastoral Care, celebrated Mass at noon on Sept. 4  in the hospital chapel. Bishop McManus celebrated a Mass at 6:15 p.m. in St. John Church.

Bishop McManus was one of four people from the diocese to attend V Encuentro, a national gathering of Hispanic Catholics in Grapevine, Texas. Joining the bishop were Deacon Franklin B. Lizardo, director of the diocesan Hispanic Apostolate; Father Hugo A. Cano, bishop’s liaison to Encuentro, and Sister Rosa Maria Campos, of the Oblate Sisters to Divine Love, diocesan secretary for Encuentro and pastoral assistant at John Paul II Parish in Southbridge.

 

About 150 people attended a conference on the environment at the College of the Holy Cross, sponsored by the Diocese of Worcester. The conference was in response to Pope Francis’ encylical “Laudato Si’,” about care for the human and natural environments. About 40 parishes and schools, most from Worcester, registered, according to Peter Dunbeck, organizer of the conference. Mr. Dunbeck, a member of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough, is the leader of the diocesan Environmental Stewardship Ministry.

 

The Joseph Tham Pham Life Sciences Learning Center at Holy Name Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School was dedicated Sept. 14 with a ribbon cutting and the baptism of the granddaughter of the honoree. Mr. Pham’s children donated money for the learning center and came from as far away as Utah and San Francisco to attend the ceremony. They are Naja Mary-Nga Pham Lockwood, Huy D. Pham and Han N. Pham, all alumni of Holy Name. Naja Lockwood and her husband, David, were major donors. After the ribbon-cutting Josephine Hannah Linh Yao, daughter of Han Pham and Sydney Yao, was baptized by Father Dennis J. O’Brien in the school chapel. Father O’Brien was headmaster of the school in the 1980s when the Pham family attended the school.   

 

Father Robert M. Spellman, 74, pastor emeritus of St. Joseph the Good Provider Parish, Berlin, died Sept. 22. He was born in New York City. He graduated from St. Michael College, Santa Fe, New Mexico. He studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall, Ogdensburg, New York, and Holy Apostles Seminary, Cromwell, Connecticut. He was ordained a priest  May 4, 1974, by Bishop Flanagan in St. Paul Cathedral. He served associate pastor assignments at St. Mary, Southbridge; St. Francis of Assisi, Fitchburg; Our Lady of the Lake, Leominster; St. Mary, Uxbridge; Our Lady of the Assumption, Millbury; Our Lady of the Rosary, Worcester, and St. Anne, Shrewsbury. On Aug. 2, 1999 he was named pastor of St. Joseph the Good Provider Parish. He retired in 2013.

 

 

OCTOBER

 

The Southbridge Hispanic community celebrated its 60th anniversary in town  Oct. 7 with a Mass at St. Mary Church. More than 200 who attended greeted Bishop McManus, Father Kenneth B. Cardinale, pastor of St. John Paul II Parish, and their former pastor, Father Peter Joyce. The first Spanish Mass in town was celebrated Oct. 8, 1958, in the Notre Dame Parish Hall. Father Cardinale told The Catholic Free Press that “the Latino community is one of the best things about ministering in Southbridge. They just channel the unconditional love of God.”

 

 

The Ghanaian community celebrated the 10th anniversary of its move from St. Peter Parish, where it was a part of the African community, to St. Joan of Arc Parish, where it numbers about 300. Bishop McManus celebrated Mass wearing vestments given to him by Archbishop Gabriel Justice Anokye during a visit in August. He told the gathering that “this community is a gift to the Diocese of  Worcester, indeed a gift to the whole Church.” 

 

The Vatican Signatura, the Holy See’s highest court, rejected appeals by the Mount Carmel Preservation Society aimed at saving Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Bishop McManus closed the church in 2016 and merged Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto parishes in 2017. The Preservation Society, a group of parishioners and othersappealed the Signatura’s rejection to the Congresso, a group of senior officials from the Signatura. 

 

More than 300 lay people and 100 priests attended the fifth annual celebration of the priesthood, titled “Taste of the Diocese” in the Atrium at St. Vincent Hospital Oct. 18. Parish groups and ministries provided ethnic foods for tasting. More than $159,000 was raised for the priests’ retirement fund, according to Michael P. Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development.

 

Fifteen priests from Haiti visited the Worcester diocese to renew covenants with parishes in the diocese. Sister Marie-Judith Dupuy, director of the diocesan Haitian Apostolate, said the bishops of the Diocese of Les Cayes in Haiti and the Diocese of Worcester renew their covenant every three years. Parishes in the two dioceses that are twinned renew their covenants every year.

 

Msgr. F. Gilles Roy, 91, who served both in the Diocese of Worcester and South American missions, died Oct. 20. He was born in Central Falls, Rhode Island. He graduated from Assumption Preparatory School and Assumption College, both in Worcester. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1948. He studied for the priesthood in the Seminary of Philosophy and the Grand Seminary, Montreal. He was ordained a priest on May 30, 1957, by Bishop Wright in St. Paul Cathedral. He served associate pastor assignments at St. Theresa, East Blackstone; Immaculate Conception, Fitchburg; St. Cecilia, Leominster, and St. Peter, Northbridge. In 1967 he was sent to the Diocese of Sicueni, Peru, where he served two parishes. In 1979 he returned to the Worcester diocese and was named pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Fitchburg. He continued work with the Spanish Apostolate. On July 13, 1983, he was named pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Worcester. He returned to Peru on Sept. 12, 1984. Bishop Flanagan named him director of the first Worcester Diocesan Missionary Unit to Latin America. On Sept. 29, 2003, he was named a monsignor by Pope John Paul II. He retired from active ministry on June 1, 2011.

 

Catholic Charities opened an office in Milford Oct. 10 to serve the 11 towns in the Blackstone Valley-Greater Milford area, according to Danishka Valdes, administrator. The communities served by the office include Milford, Northbridge, Grafton, Sutton, Douglas, Uxbridge, Upton, Hope-dale, Mendon, Millville and Blackstone.

   

NOVEMBER 

 

The St. Denis Catholic Women’s Council at St. Denis Parish, Douglas, celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding with a Mass and banquet on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The organization had its first meeting on Nov. 24, 1918, 13 days after Armistice Day that ended the fighting on the western front in World War I. The organization was named the St. Denis branch of the Catholic Women’s War Service Council. The mission of the 140 members was to help war veterans and their families. The organization has 60 members now and helping veterans and their families still is a major focus, according to Jeanne Bombara, president.

 

 Nearly 400 high school students attending a youth rally were told that, if they wanted to change the world, they should model their lives after Jesus. The rally, titled “Transformation,” was organized by the diocesan youth ministry office under the direction of Timothy Messenger and held in the Laska gymnasium at Assumption College.

 

“To Know Him, to Love Him. to Serve Him” was the theme of the 2018 Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference held Nov. 10 at Assumption College. A total of 400 women registered and the conference was sold out. It included Mass, opportunities to pray the rosary, go to confession and hear presentations by lay and religious speakers.

 

Francesco Cesareo, president of Assumption College and president of the National Review Board, said the Church can show society how to protect minors if it does so successfully itself. But because of clergy sexual abuse and coverup, the Church has lost the credibility needed even to speak about other problems. Speaking to about 100 people at St. Patrick Parish in Northbridge, he said the Church needs to address such problems as immigration, racism and poverty. The bishops “can’t do it themselves,” he said. The laity need to assist them.

 

The Serra Club of Northern Worcester County honored Judge Edward J. Reynolds for 50 years as a member. He joined in 1968,  following his father, who was a member when the club first started. He said he and his father are the only father and son who both have been president in the club’s history. 

 

Bishop McManus was host, along with Catholic Charities, at the annual Thanksgiving dinner in the Cenacle in the basement of St. Paul Catherdral. The sit-down dinner, turkey with all the fixings, usually draws 140 or more people. Volunteers delivered turkey dinners to as many as 1,700 homebound.

 

 

DECEMBER 

 

St. Bernard Central Catholic High School in Fitchburg won the Division 6 state football championship Dec.1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro with a 46-35 victory over Pope John XXIII of Everett. The Bernardians had played for the championship once before, in 2015, but lost to Mashpee. This year St. Bernard, led by coach Tom Bingham, won 12 out of 13 games during the season to get to the championship game.

 

Bishop McManus ordained one priest and two deacons Dec. 15 at St. Paul Cathedral. Father Juan Sebastian Sanchez Guzman from Colombia  was ordained a priest. Thiago Moises Da Silva, from Brazil, and Nijaya Sagar Gundiga from India were ordained transitional deacons preparing for the priesthood. Father Sanchez has been assigned as associate pastor at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster, where he had been serving before his ordination.

 

On Christmas Day Bishop McManus and Catholic Charities played hosts, as they did on Thanksgiving, at a turkey dinner for anyone who wanted to come to the Cenacle in St. Paul Cathedral. Volunteers also delivered turkey dinner to the homebound and those who were alone.

 

Msgr. James P. Moroney has been appointed interim rector of St. Paul Cathedral and interim director of the Office for Divine Worship, effective Jan.1. Msgr. Robert K. Johnson, current rector, was assigned to studies in Rome. Msgr. Moroney had served as rector of St. John Seminary in Brighton. Bishop McManus, in announcing the appointments, said allowing Msgr. Moroney to serve as rector of St. John was a sacrifice for the Diocese of Worcester. He called Msgr. Moroney a very capable priest and said he was happy to have him and his pastoral skills back in the diocese.