The public is invited to join Bishop Robert J. McManus and students from Worcester Diocesan Catholic Schools at the annual Mass for Life on Thursday, March 30 at 10:00 a.m. at Cathedral of St. Paul, 19 Chatham St., Worcester. The diocesan pro-life awards, honoring individuals who have shown extraordinary witness to the sacredness of human life, will also be presented at the Mass. CLICK TITLE FOR RELEASE
The Office of Development of the Diocese of Worcester has announced that it has concluded the advanced gifts phase of this year’s appeal prior to the diocesan-wide In-pew Sunday. The appeal has received 2,147 gifts and pledges totaling $1,192,175 to jump-start this year’s Annual Partners in Charity Appeal. This weekend, March 19, is the official In-pew Sunday in 97 parishes and 3 missions which comprise the Diocese of Worcester. The total raised to date is nearly 24 percent of the $5 million goal. CLICK headline to read complete release.
Statement from Bishop McManus: This year the Liturgical Memorial of St. Patrick, March 17, falls on a Friday of the Second Week of Lent, a day of abstinence. In light of the number of inquiries about my granting a dispensation from the requirement to refrain from eating meat on the Fridays of Lent, I am granting a diocesan-wide dispensation from the law of abstinence on Friday, March 17, 2017. I would ask the Catholic faithful who take advantage of this general dispensation to perform another act of penance on either the day before or after March 17, 2017.
The Cathedral of St. Paul in Worcester was at near capacity on Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. when 215 catechumens and candidates along with their sponsors and families participated in various rites leading to completing their initiation into the Catholic Church. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adult (RCIA) is the sacramental process used worldwide in the Roman Catholic Church through which people prepare for initiation, or come into full communion, or complete their initiation into the Roman Catholic Church. CLICK TITLE TO READ FULL RELEASE