The National Centre for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania, is displaying relics of St. Padre Pio in an exhibit traveling throughout the nation and one of the stops will be at St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in the Fiskdale section of Sturbridge.

With his music ministry, Som do Monte (Sound of the Mount), the 38-year-old Father Azevedo gives concerts in Brazil and around the world and has more than nine million followers on Instagram and more than seven million YouTube subscribers, Deacon Longhini said.

Bishop McManus welcomed the 400-500 people attending the ordination in person and the 549 watching all or part of it livestreamed, and thanked them for their support.

As the Diocese of Worcester celebrates 75 years since its establishment in 1950, The Catholic Free Press took a look back at the events, people and places that helped shape the Catholic Church in Worcester County.

Staffing changes are coming this summer for several parishes – due to priests retiring, becoming a senior priest, going to a different parish, taking on specialized ministry, or taking a leave of absence.

Jonathan E. Amidon was working a well-paid job that he enjoyed. He was an echocardiographer for Boston Medical Center. “I had everything that I could have possibly needed,” the 30-year-old Worcester native said. “I had all my debts paid off, I had everything. But I was like, ‘You know, I’m not really happy. There’s something lingering.’”

Sharing and repurposing was celebrated at separate, but related, events May 29. At St. Bernard Elementary School in Fitchburg, Bishop McManus blessed a new altar made by a grandfather, and statues donated by religious sisters. The statues came from a convent sold that day to serve veterans.

“Today … we have professed the truth” that we believe the Church is one, holy, Catholic and apostolic, Bishop McManus said Sunday. No matter what continent we come from, there is only one faith.

In a letter shared with parishioners this weekend, Bishop McManus announced that he is accepting the recommendations from parish committees and the Diocesan Pastoral Planning committee to merge the parishes of St. John the Baptist, East Brookfield, St. Joseph in North Brookfield and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in West Brookfield into one new parish. The new parish will have worship sites at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in West Brookfield and St. Joseph in North Brookfield MORE

For the past five years, Mr. Ayim has volunteered for the African Ministry. He runs a program in a few parishes in Worcester called the “Star Program” that teaches financial literacy and financial education to African teens involved in athletics.

“It’s amazing,” Father Flynn said of the interest in this pilgrimage church. “People are coming during the day, wanting to get the stamp,” a rubber stamp they can apply to their “Jubilee 2025 Pilgrim’s Guide,” like a passport. “If I’m not busy, I’ll come up and talk to them.”

DUDLEY – Bishop McManus officially established the Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola, as a shrine attached to St. Andrew Bobola Parish here, on Sunday before a standing-room-only congregation said to have come from at least 10 states.

Ignatian Volunteer Corps New England held their annual Madonna Della Strada awards ceremony April 27 at Boston College High School.

Join with me in a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the election of Pope Leo XIV as our new Holy Father. We are truly blessed to welcome him as the Supreme Pontiff and we pledge our support and prayers for his pontificate. We are also proud that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a native of Chicago and a product of the Church in America, is now the Holy Father of the Universal Church. MORE

The Diocese of Worcester has released its annual report for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2024. The annual report highlights major activities and departments along with details on financial activities. It is published as a supplement in Friday's printed edition of The Catholic Free Press and is posted on the diocesan website. Audited financial statements are anticipated by late Spring.

“Rarely have I worked with such a large group … from such diverse backgrounds … as willing to explore the faith,” Father Adam R. Reid, St. Anne’s pastor, said at the Easter Vigil. He told The Catholic Free Press that he sees the large group as “an outer expression of our cause for hope – during this Jubilee Year and always – our hope that is grounded in the reality that our Lord is at work all around us.”

“I know he will be missed because on Easter Sunday when we watched him ride in the popemobile we were so happy to see him. Many were shedding tears, and I too shed a few of joy to see him again with his flock,” Mr. Tillotson said.

BERLIN – Robert D. Rainville, 86, passed peacefully at the Rose Monahan Hospice Home in Worcester, April 18.

“For 12 years as our Holy Father, Pope Francis consistently preached to the world that one of the key tenets of being a follower of Jesus Christ is to accompany others who seek God’s love,” Bishop McManus wrote.

U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced that Pope Francis had died at 7:35 a.m., April 21.