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WEST BOYLSTON – For much of his life, the late Father Walter J. Riley, a priest of the Diocese of Worcester, was passionate about visiting Civil War battlefields and collecting Civil War memorabilia.

WORCESTER – With temperatures that dipped below zero and a record number of homeless people in Worcester County, St. John Parish opened a winter overflow shelter at the St. Francis Xavier Center.

Deacon Joseph T. DuVarney, 96, entered peacefully into eternal rest on Feb. 11 surrounded by the love of his family and the grace of God, whom he served so devotedly throughout his life.

A retired priest spoke with The Catholic Free Press about advances in his ministry with couples last Saturday, as National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) began. World Marriage Day was celebrated Feb. 8.

A Lutheran life-issues coordinator and a Catholic with a new baby are co-leaders of this spring’s 40 Days for Life campaign in Worcester, which begins next week.

Kevin Matthews, a midwestern radio personality from Chicago’s “98 The Loop” will headline the 25th Annual Worcester Catholic Men’s Conference on Saturday, March 21, at the DCU Convention Center.

(OSV News) – Venerable Fulton J. Sheen will soon be beatified, now that the Vatican has given the green light, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, announced Feb. 9. No date or location for the beatification was given.

SHREWSBURY – It was Super Bowl Sunday and Autism Sunday. And, an opportunity for a local Catholic to tell his fellow Knights and their guests about challenges he and others on the autism spectrum face, and headway being made.

Conor, 18, said his faith is just as important to him as playing hockey and baseball. “God gave me the ability to play sports,” he said.

Noah Hajdu wants to feel closer to Jesus and he’s chosen a special way to do it. This Noah will build a cross, not an ark. Mr. Hajdu, 23, of Sterling, plans to carry a 12-foot high wooden cross up Wachusett Mountain to raise money for Campus Ministry in the Diocese of Worcester. He calls it “Operation Carry the Cross.”

Catholic schools scheduled a variety of types of service and people to serve for Catholic Schools Week last week, but winter weather changed or extended some plans.

A Massachusetts novena for peace and the canonization of a European ruler, with connections to the Worcester diocese, was held Sunday at St. Paul Cathedral. Bishop McManus celebrated Mass, the fifth in a novena of monthly Masses honoring Blessed Karl of Austria (also called Charles, of the Habsburg monarchy), Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary from 1916-1918 during World War I.

WORCESTER – Students at St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School got a lesson from the bishop and the campus minister at Catholic Schools Week Mass Jan. 29.

(OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV didn't just write his first message as pontiff for World Communications Day Jan. 24. He wrote a programmatic document on artificial intelligence in response to the challenges of the modern world, just like Pope Leo XIII faced the industrial revolution more than a century before.

Many open houses scheduled for the beginning of Catholic Schools Week were rescheduled due to the snowstorm Jan. 25-26 that brought more than 22 inches of snow to Worcester.

“I loved being surrounded by thousands of people who feel the same way I do supporting life, and you truly are not walking through it alone,” Mr. Audette continued. “Not only was the March remarkable but the bonds formed with fellow Assumption University members and others made this march even more memorable.”

“We are facing a lot of broken homes, negligence of duties,” Father Kyeremateng said. “In Africa, the man is supposed to take responsibilities … taking care of the children, the wife,” seeing that everyone lives at peace and is well fed.

The updated policy removes the requirement that religious workers in the United States on R-1 visas reside outside the U.S. for a year when the visa’s five-year maximum period is up.

(OSV News) – Three U.S. cardinals have issued a joint statement urging the creation of a “genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation,” as the U.S. faces “the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War.”

Ecumenism “should be promoted and revived,” said Msgr. Peter R. Beaulieu, director of mission integration and pastoral care at St. Vincent Hospital, where he met Greek Orthodox people who helped him bring together local Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christians. “It’s also the mind and heart of Christ that all be one.”