Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester

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Diocese of Worcester Diœcesis Wigorniensis
Cathedral of St. Paul
Coat of arms
Location
Country	United States
Territory	County of Worcester, Massachusetts
Ecclesiastical province	Boston
Metropolitan	Boston
Coordinates	42°15′55″N 71°48′24″W / 42.26528°N 71.80667°W / 42.26528; -71.80667Coordinates: 42°15′55″N 71°48′24″W / 42.26528°N 71.80667°W / 42.26528; -71.80667
Population - Catholics (including non-members)	350,000 (43.8%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	January 14, 1950
Cathedral	St. Paul's Cathedral
Patron saint	St. Paul
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Robert Joseph McManus
Metropolitan Archbishop	Seán Patrick O'Malley Archbishop of Boston
Bishops emeritus	Daniel Patrick Reilly Bishop Emeritus (1994-2004)
Map
Website
worcesterdiocese.org

The Diocese of Worcester is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States. The geographic boundaries of the diocese are the same as those of Worcester County, Massachusetts, the geographically largest county of the state of Massachusetts. It is headed by a bishop who has his see at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in the city of Worcester. The fifth and current bishop is Robert Joseph McManus. The Diocese of Worcester is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.

History[]

Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Worcester on 7 March 1950, taking its present territory, that of Worcester County, from the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts and making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston. He designated the Church of St. Paul as the cathedral of the new diocese.

Sexual abuse[]

On August 31, 1997, a letter which former Worcester Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan sent to the Rev. Jerome Hayden, a Catholic therapist in Holliston, Massachusetts, in 1968 was made public.^[1] In his letter, Flanagan stated that Fr. David A. Holley "has been ... [accused of] molesting teenage boys on at least two occasions—most recently in a hospital from which he has been barred—and with carrying around and showing to these boys pornographic magazines and books. Although the ... [accusations] were established beyond any doubt in the judgment of the priests who assisted me in the investigation as well as myself, Father has denied any wrongdoing."^[1] More letters which were obtained by the Dallas Morning News revealed that Holley was transferred to the Seton Institute in Baltimore in 1970 after more accusations against him surfaced.^[1] In May 2020, it was revealed that the Diocese of Worcester was named in a lawsuit involving a plaintiff whom Holley allegedly abused in the 1970s.^[2][3] The lawsuit, which also named the Dioceses where Holley was transferred to as defendants, faulted the Diocese of Worcester with the "most of the blame."^[3] Holley was later convicted of sexual abuse in New Mexico in 1993 and given a prison sentence of 55 to 275 years.^[2]

Bishops[]

Bishops of Worcester[]

1. John Joseph Wright (1950-1959), appointed Bishop of Pittsburgh and later Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy (elevated to Cardinal in 1969)
2. Bernard Joseph Flanagan (1959-1983)
3. Timothy Joseph Harrington (1983-1994)
4. Daniel Patrick Reilly (1994-2004)
5. Robert Joseph McManus (2004–present)

Auxiliary bishops[]

• Timothy Joseph Harrington (1968-1983), appointed Bishop of Worcester
• George Edward Rueger (1988-2005)

Other bishops who had been priests of the Diocese of Worcester[]

• Michael Wallace Banach, appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Titular Archbishop in 2013

Organization of parishes[]

In 2004, Bishop Reilly grouped parishes into "clusters".^[4][5] The purpose of this system is to allow communities to come together for regional events. Also, priests may substitute for one another at a particular parish.

Parish	City/Town	Pastor/Administrator	Associate Pastor/Vicar
Annunciation Parish	Gardner	Rev. Stephen Lundrigan	Rev. Miguel Pagan
St. John Paul II	Southbridge	Rev. Kenneth R. Cardinale	Rev. Wilmar Ramos
Blessed Sacrament	Worcester	Rev. Richard Trainor
Christ the King	Worcester	Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan
Good Shepherd	Linwood	Rev. Victor Sierra
Holy Cross	Templeton (East Templeton)	Rev. Patrick Ssekyole
Holy Family	Worcester	Monsignor Robert K. Johnson
Holy Family of Nazareth	Leominster	Rev. José A. Rodriguez
Holy Trinity	Harvard/Bolton	Rev. Terence T. Kilcoyne
Immaculate Conception	Lancaster	Rev. Thomas H. Hultquist
Immaculate Conception	Worcester	Rev. Walter J. Riley
Immaculate Heart of Mary	Winchendon	Rev. Henry Ramirez
Mary, Queen of the Rosary	Spencer	Rev. William Schipper
North American Martyrs	Auburn	Rev. John F. Gee
Our Lady Immaculate	Athol	Rev. Edwin Montaña
Our Lady of Częstochowa	Worcester	Rev. Ryszard Polek	Rev. Edward Michalski
Our Lady of Good Counsel	West Boylston	Rev. Thirburse F. Millott
Our Lady of Mount Carmel And Our Lady of Loreto Parish	Worcester	Monsignor F. Stephen Pedone
Our Lady of Lourdes	Worcester	Rev. James B. O'Shea
Our Lady of Mercy (Maronite Eparchy of Brooklyn)	Worcester	Rev. Paul Mooradd
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Melkite Eparchy of Newton)	Worcester	Rev. Bryan McNeil
Our Lady of the Angels	Worcester	Rev. Charles F. Monroe
Our Lady of the Assumption	Millbury	Rev. Daniel R. Mulcahy
Our Lady of the Lake	Leominster	Rev. C. Michael Broderick
Our Lady of the Rosary	Worcester	Rev. Patrick J. Hawthorne
Our Lady of Vilna (historically Lithuanian, currently Vietnamese)	Worcester	Rev. Peter Tam M. Bui
Prince of Peace	Princeton	Rev. James J. Caldarella
Sacred Heart of Jesus	Hopedale	Rev. William C. Konicki
Sacred Heart of Jesus	Milford	Rev. Richard A. Scioli, CSS	Rev. Gregory J. Hoppough, CSS (weekends)
Sacred Heart of Jesus	Webster	Rev. Adam Reid
Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden	Worcester	Rev. Erik Asante
St. Aloysius	Gilbertville	Rev. Richard A. Lembo
St. Aloysius-St. Jude	Leicester	Rev. John M. Lizewiski
St. Andrew Bobola (Polish)	Dudley	Rev. Krzysztof Korcz
St. Andrew the Apostle	Worcester	Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Scollen
St. Ann	Oxford (North Oxford)	Rev. Michael N. Lavallee
St. Anna	Leominster	Rev. Carlos Ruiz
St. Anne	Ashburnham (South Ashburnham)	Rev. Kevin Hartford (interim)
St. Anne	Shrewsbury	Rev. John J. Foley	Rev. Paul T. O'Connell (Senior Priest)
St. Anne	Southborough	Rev. Conrad S. Pesevich
St. Anne & St. Patrick (run by Assumptionists)	Sturbridge (Fiskedale)	Rev. Alex Castro, A.A.
St. Anthony of Padua	Fitchburg	Rev. Juan Ramirez
St. Anthony of Padua	Dudley	Rev. Daniel Moreno
St. Augustine Mission	Hardwick (Wheelwright)	Rev. Richard A. Lembo
St. Augustine	Millville	Rev. Victor Sierra
St. Bernadette	Northborough	Rev. Ronald G. Falco
St. Bernard @ St. Camillus de Lellis Church	Fitchburg	Rev. Joseph M. Dolan
St. Boniface	Lunenburg	Rev. Anthony Mpagi
St. Brigid	Millbury	Rev. Daniel R. Mulcahy, Jr.
St. Cecilia	Leominster	Rev. Robert D. Bruso
St. Christopher	Worcester	Rev. Stanley F. Krutcik
St. Columba	Paxton	Rev. David Cotter
St. Denis	Ashburnham	Rev. Kevin Hartford (interim)
St. Denis	Douglas	Rev. Ernest P. Allega
St. Edward the Confessor	Westminster	Rev. Juan Herrara
St. Francis of Assisi	Athol	Rev. Edwin Montaña
St. Francis of Assisi (Hispanic)	Fitchburg	Rev. Angel Matos
St. Francis of Assisi	South Barre	Rev. James B. Callahan
St. Gabriel the Archangel	Upton	Rev. Laurence V. Brault
St. George	Worcester	Rev. Edward D. Niccolls
St. James	Grafton (South Grafton)	Rev. Edward J. Hanlon
St. Joan of Arc (Hispanic)	Worcester	Rev. Nelson J. Rivera
St. John	Worcester	Rev. John F. Madden
St. John the Baptist	East Brookfield	Rev. Richard A. Jakubauskas (Admin.)	Rec. Donald C. Ouellette
St. John, Guardian of Our Lady	Clinton	Rev. James S. Mazzone	Rev. Juan Sánchez
St. Joseph	Auburn	Rev. Paul M. Bomba
St. Joseph	Charlton	Rev. Robert A. Grattaroti	Rev. Charles Omolo
St. Joseph	Fitchburg	Rev. Mark Rainville
St. Joseph & St. Pius X	Leicester	Rev. John M. Lizewski
St. Joseph	North Brookfield	Rev. Richard A. Jakubauskas (Admin.)	Rev. Donald C. Ouellette
St. Joseph Basilica	Webster	Rev. Grzegorz Chodkowski
St. Joseph the Good Provider	Berlin	Rev. Thomas Tokarz
St. Leo	Leominster	Rev. William E. Champlin
St. Louis	Webster	Rev. William F. Sanders
St. Luke the Evangelist	Westborough	Rev. Msgr. Michael G. Foley	Rev. Joseph Rice
St. Mark	Sutton	Rev. Michael A. Digeronimo
St. Martin Mission	Templeton (Otter River)	Rev. Patrick Ssekyole
St. Mary	Grafton (North Grafton)	Rev. Leo-Paul LeBlanc
St. Mary	Holden (Jefferson)	Rev. Timothy M. Brewer
St. Mary	Shrewsbury	Rev. Msgr. Michael F. Rose
St. Mary	Uxbridge	Rev. Nicholas Desimone
St. Mary of the Hills	Boylston	Rev. Juan Echavarria
St. Mary the Assumption	Milford	Rev. Peter Joyce	Rev. Thiago Da Silva
St. Matthew	Southborough	Rev. James B. Flynn
St. Patrick	Rutland	Rev. James Boland
St. Patrick	Whitinsville	Rev. Tomasz J. Borkowski
St. Paul	Blackstone	Rev. D. Timothy O'Mara
St. Paul	Warren	Rev. Alan Martineau
St. Paul Cathedral	Worcester	Rev. Msgr. James P. Moroney (Rector)	Rev. Diego A. Buriticá
St. Peter	Northbridge	Rev. Thomas G. Landry III
St. Peter	Petersham	Rev. Edwin Montaña
St. Peter (Hispanic and African-American)	Worcester	Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Scollen
St. Philip	Grafton	Rev. Leo-Paul LeBlanc
St. Richard of Chichester	Sterling	Rev. James M. Steuterman
St. Roch	Oxford	Rev. Michael J. Roy
St. Rose of Lima	Northborough	Rev. James A. Houston
St. Stanislaus	Warren (West Warren)	Rev. Alan Martineau
St. Stephen	Worcester	Monsignor Robert K. Johnson
St. Theresa	Blackstone	Rev. Thien X. Nguyen
St. Vincent de Paul	Templeton (Baldwinville)	Rev. Francis A. Roberge
Our Lady of Providence @ St Bernard's Church	Worcester	Rev. Jonathan Slavinskas

High schools[]

• , Worcester
• Immaculate Heart of Mary*, Harvard
• Notre Dame Academy, Worcester
• Notre Dame Preparatory School, Fitchburg
• St. Bernard's High School, Fitchburg
• St. John's High School, Shrewsbury
• St. Mary's Central Catholic High School, Worcester
• Trivium School*, Lancaster

* Operates independent of the Diocese

Closed[]

• Magnificat Academy, Warren
• Saint Peter-Marian High School, Worcester
• Holy Name Central Catholic High School, Worcester

Administrators[]

• Most Rev. Robert Joseph McManus, STD, Bishop
• Most Rev. Daniel P. Reilly, DD, Bishop Emeritus
• Rev. Richard F. Reidy, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia
• Rev. Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, JCL, Judicial Vicar
• Rev. Paul T. O'Connell, JCD, Associate Judicial Vicar
• Raymond L. Delisle, Chancellor of Operations
• Rev. James Mazzone, Director of Priest Personnel
• Sister Paula Kelleher, SSJ, Vicar for Religious
• Rev. Msgr. James P. Moroney, Diocesan Office of Liturgy
• Rev. Donato Infante III, Director of Vocations

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Worcester
• 2012-2013 Worcester Diocesan Directory