Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman 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 led by a prelate bishop which is pastor of the motherchurch, Cathedral of Saint Paul in the City of Worcester.

The diocese was canonically erected on January 14, 1950 by Pope Pius XII. Its territories were taken from the neighboring Diocese of Springfield. There have been five ordinary bishops and an auxilary bishop since the establishment. The current bishop is Robert Joseph McManus.

Contents 1 List of Bishops 2 Organization of Parishes 2.1 Worcester 2.2 Ashburnham 2.3 Athol 2.4 Auburn 2.5 Barre 2.6 Berlin 2.7 Blackstone 2.8 Bolton 2.9 Boylston 2.10 Brookfield 2.11 Charlton 2.12 Clinton 2.13 Douglas 2.14 Dudley 2.15 East Brookfield 2.16 Fitchburg 2.17 Gardner 2.18 Grafton 2.19 Hardwick 2.20 Harvard 2.21 Holden 2.22 Hopedale 2.23 Lancaster 2.24 Leicester 2.25 Leominster 2.26 Lunenburg 2.27 Milford 2.28 Millbury 2.29 Millville 2.30 North Brookfield 2.31 Northborough 2.32 Northbridge 2.33 Oxford 2.34 Paxton 2.35 Petersham 2.36 Princeton 2.37 Rutland 2.38 Shrewsbury 2.39 Southborough 2.40 Southbridge 2.41 Spencer 2.42 Sterling 2.43 Sturbridge 2.44 Sutton 2.45 Templeton 2.46 Upton 2.47 Uxbridge 2.48 Warren 2.49 Webster 2.50 West Boylston 2.51 West Brookfield 2.52 Westborough 2.53 Westminster 2.54 Winchendon 3 Administators 4 Resources

[edit] List of Bishops

1. John Cardinal Wright (1950-1959) 2. Bernard J. Flannagan (1960-1982) 3. Timothy J. Harrington, D.D. (1982-1994) 4. Daniel Patrick Reilly, D.D. (1994-2004) 5. Robert J. McManus, S.T.D. (2004-present) Auxiliary: George E. Rueger, D.D. (1988-2005)

[edit] Organization of Parishes

Parishes are clustered into "Clusters". The purpose of this system is to allow commuities to come together for a regional event. Also, priests may substitute for one another at a particular parish. The system was introduced by former Bishop Reilly in 2004. The clusters include the parishes (by munipiciality):

[edit] Worcester

• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Ascension Church
• Blessed Sacrament Parish
• Christ the King Church
• Holy Name of Jesus Parish (French)
• Immaculate Conception Parish
• Notre Dame des Canadiens-St. Joseph (French)
• Our Lady of the Angels Church
• Our Lady of Czestochowa (Polish)
• Our Lady of Fatima Parish
• Our Lady of Loretto
• Our Lady of Lourdes
• Our Lady of Mercy (Maronite Diocese of St. Maron in Brooklyn)
• Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Ann (Italian)
• Our Lady of Perputual Help Melkite Diocese of Newton
• Our Lady of the Rosary
• Our Lady of Vilma (historically Lithuanian, currently Vietnamese)
• Sacred Heart Church
• St. Andrew the Apostle Mission
• St. Bernard's Parish
• St. Casmir's Church (Lithuanian)
• St. Catherine of Sweden
• St. Charles Borromeo
• St. Christopher's Parish
• St. George's Church
• St. Joan of Arc Parish (Hispanic)
• St. John's Church
• St. Peter's Church (Hispanic and African American)
• St. Margaret Mary Parish
• St. Stephen's Parish

[edit] Ashburnham

• St. Anne (South Ashburnham)
• St. Denis

[edit] Athol

• Our Lady Immaculate
• St. Francis of Assisi
• Our Lady Queen of Heaven Mission

[edit] Auburn

• North American Martyrs
• St. Joseph's Church

[edit] Barre

• St. Joseph
• St. Thomas-a-Becket (South Barre)

[edit] Berlin

• St. Joseph the Good Provider

[edit] Blackstone

• St. Paul's Church
• St. Theresa

[edit] Bolton

• St. Francis Xavier Church

[edit] Boylston

• St. Mary of the Hills Parish

[edit] Brookfield

• St. Mary

[edit] Charlton

• St. Joseph

[edit] Clinton

• Our Lady of Jasna Gora
• St. John the Evangelist (St. Jack's)

[edit] Douglas

• St. Denis Parish

[edit] Dudley

• St. Andrew Bobola Parish (Polish)
• St. Anthony of Padua

[edit] East Brookfield

• St. John the Baptist Church

[edit] Fitchburg

• Immaculate Conception
• Madonna of the Holy Rosary
• Sacred Heart of Jesus
• St. Anthony Di Padua
• St. Bernard's Parish
• St. Camillus de Lellis (historically French)
• St. Francis of Assisi (Spanish)
• St. Joseph (Spanish)

[edit] Gardner

• Holy Sprit Church (Spanish)
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
• Sacred Heart of Jesus
• St. Joseph's in Gardner

[edit] Grafton

• St. James (South Grafton)
• St. Mary (North Grafton)
• St. Philip's Church

[edit] Hardwick

• St. Aloysius
• St. Augustine Mission

[edit] Harvard

• St. Theresa the Little Flower

[edit] Holden

• St. Mary's in Jefferson

[edit] Hopedale

• Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

[edit] Lancaster

• Immaculate Conception

[edit] Leicester

• St. Aloysius and St. Jude's Chapel (mass is held a St. Jude's)
• St. Joseph and St. Pius X (share staff)

[edit] Leominster

• Holy Family of Nazareth
• Our Lady of the Lake Church
• St. Anna's Church
• St. Cecilia's Parish
• St. Leo's Parish (Spanish)

[edit] Lunenburg

• St. Boniface Parish

[edit] Milford

• Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish
• St. Mary of the Assumption Church

[edit] Millbury

• St. Mary of the Assumption Parish
• St. Brigid's Church

[edit] Millville

• St. Augustine

[edit] North Brookfield

• St. Joseph

[edit] Northborough

• St. Bernadette
• St. Rose of Lima Parish

[edit] Northbridge

• St. Peter
• St. Patrick

[edit] Oxford

• St. Ann's (North Oxford)
• St. Roch's Church

[edit] Paxton

• St. Columbia

[edit] Petersham

• St. Peter

[edit] Princeton

• Prince of Peace Parish

[edit] Rutland

• St. Patrick's Parish

[edit] Shrewsbury

• St. Anne's on Route 9
• St. Mary's Church

[edit] Southborough

• St. Anne
• St. Matthew

[edit] Southbridge

• Notre Dame Church
• Sacred Heart of Jesus (French)
• St. Hedwig's Chruch (Polish)
• St. Mary's (Spanish)

[edit] Spencer

• Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish

[edit] Sterling

• St. Richard of Chichester Parish

[edit] Sturbridge

• St. Anne's Shirine (Assumpionist run)

[edit] Sutton

• St. Anne's Church
• St. Mark's Church

[edit] Templeton

• Holy Cross Church
• St. Martin's Mission
• St. Vincent de Paul Parish

[edit] Upton

• St. Gabriel Archangel Parish [est. 2006 merging St. Michael Archangel (Mendon) and Holy Angels. New chruch building due to be completed by 2008.]

[edit] Uxbridge

• St. Mary's Parish

[edit] Warren

• St. Paul and St. Thomas Aquinas (share staff)
• St. Stanislaus

[edit] Webster

• Sacred Heart of Jesus
• St. Joseph's Basilica
• St. Louis Parish

[edit] West Boylston

• Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish

[edit] West Brookfield

• Sacred Heart of Jesus

[edit] Westborough

• St. Luke the Evangelist Church

[edit] Westminster

• St. Edward the Confessor Church

[edit] Winchendon

• Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish

[edit] Administators

• Most Rev. Robert Joseph McManus, STD, Bishop
• Most Rev. Daniel P. Reilly, D.D., Bishop Emertus
• Most Rev. George E. Rueger, Auxiliary Emertus
• Rev. Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, J.C.L., Judicial Vicar
• Rev. Paul T. O'Connell, J.C.D., Associate Judicial Vicar
• Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan, Chancellor
• Rev. Msgr. Edmond T. Tinsley, P.A., Director of Fiscal Affairs
• Rev. Rocco Piccolomini, Director of Priest Personal
• Sister Paula Kelleher, SSJ, Vicar for Religious

[edit] Resources

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester
• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Worcester