News - November 2019 RSS Feed

Father Michael P. Bafaro, 92, of Worcester, long-time pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Saint Ann Church, passed away Nov. 28, at St. Vincent Hospital.

WORCESTER - Paula Kosky Hamann passed away peacefully on Nov. 27. She was director of Enrollment Management for the Diocese of Worcester Schools.

WORCESTER – One of the ways that God brings people to faith and restores their faith is through miracles. Knowing this, Tim Francis, the founder of “You Shall Believe,” has conducted more than 400 “Science Tests Faith” parish missions to re-ignite the faith of non-practicing Catholics, bring non-Catholics to faith and give practicing Catholics the tools needed to help loved ones return to the Church.

Michelle Schmidt, who directed a crisis pregnancy center in Southfield, Michigan, for 12 years, made connections between abortion and the Eucharist at the Worcester Catholic Women's Conference Saturday at Assumption College. Another speaker was Kathleen Beckman, lay coordinator of deliverance and exorcism ministry for the Diocese of Orange, California.

WORCESTER – Before Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God became the Benedictine she is today, she was Rosalind Moss, a girl who grew up in a traditional Jewish home in New York. At the Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference Saturday at Assumption College, she shared her journey to the Catholic faith.

WORCESTER – The Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference, with its theme, “The Eucharist: The Source and Summit of Our Faith,” lit the path to Advent and beyond for hundreds of women. Presented by the diocese and held at Assumption College Saturday, the sold-out conference included Mass celebrated by Bishop McManus, and presentations by speakers: Benedictine Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God, Michelle Schmidt, Kathleen Beckman and Tim Francis.

An inquiry into St. John Seminary found no evidence of criminal behavior or any sexual activity between seminarians and faculty members, the Archdiocese of Boston announced Friday.

FITCHBURG – The newly announced “All In: Campaign for St. Bernard’s High School” is seeking to raise more than $2 million to ensure the future of the high school.

WORCESTER – Teenagers received a message from the pope – and a lesson from a deceased firefighter – at the Diocesan High School Youth Rally, held Sunday at Assumption College.

WORCESTER – For more than 55 years, the Bishop of Worcester has hosted holiday dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas provided by Catholic Charities Worcester County.

Lt. Jason Menard’s sacrifice fully answered the question, “Can anything good come from Worcester?” Father Walter J. Riley said at the fire lieutenant's funeral Nov. 18 in St. John Church.

Assumption College is to be renamed Assumption University next August, the school has announced.

Campus Ministry at Assumption College has invited missionaries from the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) to campus this year.

The Worcester diocesan Respect Life Office is trying to renew parish respect life ministries, according to the director, Allison LeDoux.

Parishes in the second wave of Legacy of Hope are in the commitment phase. Some $11.1 million in pledges have been received, according to Jose De Jesus, vice president of Guidance In Giving, the campaign consultants.

Father Francis A. Roberge and St. Bernard Central Catholic High School students received thanks for their service at a Veterans Day cemetery celebration.

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles was elected to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the bishops' fall general assembly. Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown, Ohio, was elected chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty. Bishop McManus had been acting chairman of the committee since July when Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, stepped down to undergo cancer treatment.

Father Louis J. Gould, 89, formerly of Fitchburg, died Nov. 8 at University of Massachusetts - Memorial Hospital, Worcester. His funeral will be 11 a.m. Friday at St. Joseph's in Fitchburg.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishops from New England, including Bishop McManus, shared with Pope Francis some of the joys, challenges and sufferings of the church in the Northeast and, really, throughout the United States, three of the bishops said.