News - May 2026 RSS Feed

Two Worcester parishes are to merge into another Worcester parish and one of the church buildings is to close, Bishop McManus announced in a May 28 letter.

Two Mercy Centre teams defeated St. John’s teams to reach the championship game where they tied, 13-13, to share the title. The May 19 tournament was much more about having fun than winning or losing.

WORCESTER – Religious sisters and priests, parents and children were among hundreds of people gathered at St. Paul Cathedral Saturday for the ordination of five deacons.

WORCESTER – Maddie Sharry will never forget her final field hockey game for Notre Dame Academy.

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV published his landmark encyclical on artificial intelligence “Magnifica Humanitas” May 25, comparing the attempt to build an AI future that excludes God to the “Tower of Babel” and underlining the need to safeguard human dignity as it is “threatened by new forms of dehumanization.”

The soon-to-be deacon, who said he will be starting his tenure at Immaculate Conception Parish in Worcester, said his came as more of a quiet, consistent calling which regularly came to him.

In a deeply particular way, Alejandro Henao’s new life calling as a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Worcester reflects his thanksgiving to God for what he calls miracles in his family, ones which restarted his own Catholic faith.

The prelates made the decision to do this during a Nov. 11, 2025, session of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall plenary assembly in Baltimore – and while they were singularly focused on an exceptional gesture to mark our country’s semiquincentennial, the consecration still probably can’t come at a better time.

These were among topics Christopher West, president of the Theology of the Body Institute in Philadelphia, wove together with St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body May 14 at St. Joseph Church.

Founded in 1946 by the Sisters of Saint Anne, Anna Maria College was originally a women's college in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The college outgrew its location and moved to the newly founded Diocese of Worcester, to its permanent Paxton campus in 1951.

Father Conrad S. Pecevich passed away in the early morning hours on Wednesday, May 13.

Final commencement held last weekend

Daniel Malo felt the need to serve God. “I wanted to become more involved, but I didn’t know how,” he said.

Bishop McManus has issued a decree that reiterates Church law and spells out procedures for the Worcester diocese with respect to the treatment of the ashes of deceased persons. The May 5 “Decree on the Proper Disposition of Cremated Remains” is effective immediately.

Hiroshi Kanamoto, 81, a survivor of the United States bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, shared this personal story May 5. He was part of a delegation from Japan that visited Worcester last week to speak out against nuclear weapons. Also speaking was another member of the hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) – Yoshinori Ohmura, whose family was affected by the bombing in Nagasaki.

WORCESTER – For mothers at St. Mary Health Care Center, “bring your daughter to work” isn’t just a day – it’s a four-generation legacy.

"A night that will enrich your senses, feed your soul and help you to grow closer to the Lord in the Eucharist and feel the Lord’s love more deeply ... the kind of event that helps move your faith from your head to your heart.”

Fran Meringolo, 72, attended retreats at the Calvary Retreat Center in Shrewsbury for more than 30 years, but when the facility closed in 2008, the Holden resident wanted to find another Passionist retreat center. He and others began driving to West Hartford, Connecticut, the following year to attend retreats at Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center. There they found a second home.

75th Anniversary Celebration – Serra Club of Northern Worcester County Judge Reynolds, 88, of Leominster, was honored being chosen for the award because the Serra Club, which supports vocations to the priesthood and religious life, means a lot to him.