News - October 2026 RSS Feed

WORCESTER – Father C. Michael Broderick appreciates the support that the Celebrate Priesthood! Taste of the Diocese Gala has provided for retired and senior priests. As a senior priest, he is one of those who benefits from the gala.

AUBURN – Bishop McManus blessed artwork in the renovated sanctuary of North American Martyrs Parish on its patronal feast day Monday.

If he hadn’t been preparing for priesthood, he wouldn’t have met the woman he married – thanks in part to a matchmaking priest. He later became a clergyman – thanks in part to his wife.

AUBURN – Rev. Thaddeus X. Stachura, 90, of Auburn and a priest for the Diocese of Worcester passed away peacefully on Friday, Oct. 16.

Father John Henault, a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, spoke with The Catholic Free Press by phone from Haiti in anticipation of World Mission Sunday this weekend.

WORCESTER – It’s apple picking season. So it’s nearly time for Jackie St. Martin and her sisters to start making applesauce. They donate their earnings to St. Mary Health Care Center. The Catholic health ministry is a skilled nursing and long-term care facility at 39 Queen St.

St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough is holding Alpha programs for the fourth year, and this fall the parish is branching out by offering them at two restaurants in the town as well as the parish hall.

Mrs. Burns was led to found The Feminine Project to “bring together Catholic women to cultivate our minds and build community in order to restore authentic femininity, the home and heart of society.”

ROME (OSV News) -- Church and world leaders offered prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery to Pope Leo XIV following the Vatican's announcement that he was diagnosed with lung cancer after undergoing surgery to remove part of his right lung.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 called off Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad in December.

Massachusetts Catholic bishops and priests are supporting an effort to suspend, and ultimately repeal, the state’s new law that allows abortions up until birth.

The Worcester diocese can now proceed with a canonical trial to have Father Alan J. Martineau, ordained a priest in 2018, permanently removed from the clerical state following “a determination of sexual abuse,” Raymond L. Delisle, chancellor and director of communications ministry, said in a statement Wednesday. The Vatican directs that the criminal trial be concluded first, he explained.

Mary Bravos received plenty of bravos on Friday, Sept. 25. In the gym at St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish, in Clinton, parishioners, friends and family helped Mrs. Bravos celebrate her 105th birthday.

The Boston Globe story today presents that the diocese did, in fact, take a number of steps to address, not ignore, complaints about a priest which led to a determination of sexual abuse. We pointed out to the reporter ...

BARRE – After hearing a talk about the cross from which Jesus spoke to St. Francis of Assisi, a religious educator decided to reposition a replica of that crucifix so children can see it better.

WEBSTER – At St. Joseph Elementary School, caring for creation is more than a classroom lesson. It is a joyful way for students to recognize God’s goodness in the world around them and to learn how they can cherish his gifts.

Their friendship grew over the next eight years together in Worcester and as parishioners at St. Paul Cathedral. They supported each other as Mrs. Pakaluk was diagnosed with breast cancer and Mrs. Cheffers lost her sixth child, Allen, to blood cancer. Mrs. Pakaluk lost her own battle with cancer seven months later.