Diocese announces recipients of annual 
pro-life awards to be presented at Mass for Life

The Diocese of Worcester’s annual Mass for Life will be celebrated by Bishop McManus on Tuesday, March 25, the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, at 10 a.m. at St. Paul Cathedral in Worcester.

Students from Catholic schools in the diocese will once again be among those joining Bishop McManus. The Mother Teresa Pro-Life Award, the Ruth Pakaluk Pro-Life Youth Award, and the Gospel of Life Award, given annually to individuals who have shown heroic witness to the intrinsic value of each human life, will be presented at the liturgy. All are welcome.

Mother Teresa Pro-Life Award

Robert DiPadua has spent many years dedicated to a ministry of intercessory prayer for the unborn and their mothers. For over two decades Bob has been a faithful presence on the sidewalk across from the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Worcester and offering life-saving alternatives to the women entering the building. He prays year-round, several times a week, in all kinds of weather. He takes additional shifts in prayer vigils during the 40 Days for Life campaigns and willingly accompanies those new to the prayer ministry so they don’t have to vigil alone. In addition to his prayer ministry, Bob sees the face of Christ in those he meets and has been known to lend a quiet helping hand and great kindness to the disabled and homeless he meets. Bob is a daily communicant and a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto Parish in Worcester.

JoAnn Massarelli is a faith-filled woman who safeguards the dignity of the human person throughout her work with the disabled and medically compromised, as well as in her daily life. Jo is the director of the Social Role Valorization Implementation Project, a human service training and consultation effort which teaches social service workers, medical professionals and caregivers to provide morally coherent service and to advocate and provide authentic loving care for some of the most vulnerable people who are often devalued by society. She has taught and lectured at conferences on care for the disabled across the globe and teaches a variety of workshops on protecting vulnerable people in the hospital, and on medical decision-making. She is a member of the Medical Safeguards Project and a consultant for Family Lives, a program for children with multiple impairments who require 24-hour nursing care. Jo and her husband Marc Tumienski are members of the Catholic Worker movement and work together in ministry responding to the needs of the homeless in Worcester offering hospitality and an opportunity to experience the love of Christ and a rebuilding of their life and dignity. Jo is an articulate advocate for those who have no voice and teaches others how to care for the vulnerable with Christ-like love. Jo is a member of Christ the King parish in Worcester.

Margaret M. Russell has given great witness to the dignity of human life for many years. In 1982 she and her husband, Gerard, were among the founding members of Problem Pregnancy, an organization dedicated to helping women in crisis pregnancies to choose life, and they shared a leadership role in establishing the Central Mass. Chapter of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, working to restore respect for human life from conception to natural death. As a woman of deep and living faith, and as an exemplary professional journalist, Mrs. Ruseell served as executive editor of The Catholic Free Press for over 25 years, retiring in 2024. The award-winning newspaper’s motto, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,” was brought to life in Mrs. Russell’s approach to journalism. By presenting an objective, authentically Catholic perspective in the news, readers have long known where to turn for accurate news and information from a Catholic perspective, helping faith and life to flourish in the Diocese of Worcester.

Particularly notable during her years as editor was the 2012 Massachusetts ballot referendum on physician-assisted suicide. In the months leading up to the vote, Mrs. Russell not only covered the many facets of news stories on the topic, but also effectively produced a series of weekly columns by leading voices in the areas of medicine, law and moral teaching, who could speak to the issue. This was one of the most effective communications tools in helping to defeat the referendum, protecting Massachusetts from the legalization of this dangerous practice.

Through effectively communicating the Gospel of Life through Catholic media, and her personal witness and example Mrs. Russell has given voice to those most vulnerable and inspires others to do the same.

The Ruth V.K. Pakaluk 
Pro-Life Youth Award

Fiona McCarthy and Kate Wheeler have served as co-chairs of the Students for Life at the College of the Holy Cross for the past two years. Both of these young women have inspired their peers because of their strong faith and have put their faith into action by serving the most vulnerable, particularly the unborn and their mothers. Through their exemplary leadership Fiona and Kate have organized the group’s weekly meetings and activities, brought compelling speakers to campus, and coordinated weekly trips on Saturdays to pray the rosary across the street from Planned Parenthood. For the past two years they have spearheaded the coordination of a multi-day trip to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., arranging transportation, lodging and participation in special Masses and conferences. As graduating seniors, Fiona, who is double-majoring in biology and religious studies, and Kate, who is double-majoring in economics and theater, provide much hope and inspiration that what they do for the Cause of Life will truly make a difference for many.
 
The Gospel of Life Award

The Gospel of Life Award, presented annually to a priest of the Diocese of Worcester, was inaugurated in 2006 and named with the English title of St. John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium vitae, which was issued on the feast of the Annunciation in 1995. The Gospel of Life is known as one of the Church’s most definitive works on the dignity of the human person and on the intrinsic value of each and every human life from conception to natural death. The encyclical marks its 30th anniversary this year.

Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone was ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1978 by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan. He has served as associate pastor, administrator, and pastor in a number of diocesan parishes over the years. In 1987 he earned a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and in March 1993 he was appointed judicial vicar and vicar for canonical affairs of the tribunal. He is a member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors for the diocese and is a past president of the Canon Law Society of America. In January 2002, he received pontifical honors and the title of monsignor.

In addition to his work as judicial vicar, Msgr. Pedone also teaches Canon Law at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary and serves as pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto Parish in Worcester. Msgr. Pedone has faithfully fostered a culture of life throughout the entirety of his priestly ministry. For many years he served as chaplain to the Worcester area Engaged Encounter ministry, preparing couples for the sacrament of holy matrimony.

As pastor, he supports his parish’s vibrant Respect Life Ministry which carries out pro-life efforts of prayer, service and advocacy. Several years ago, under his leadership, parishioners established a memorial to the unborn on the parish grounds, offering those who grieve the loss of a child a place to pray and experience God’s comfort and peace.
Msgr. Pedone also spends many hours ministering to those near the end of life – the elderly, homebound, sick and dying, and regularly says Mass for the residents of Notre Dame du Lac in Worcester. His faithful witness of living and proclaiming the Gospel of Life with kindness and truth, pastoral sensitivity and holy zeal are an inspiration to all who are served by his ministry.