The Diocese of Worcester is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The geographic boundaries of the diocese are the same as those of

Worcester County, Massachusetts Worcester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 862,111, making it the second-most populous county in Massachusetts while also being the largest in area. The largest city and tra ...

, the geographically largest county of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. It is headed by a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

who has his see at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in the city of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. The fifth and current bishop is Robert Joseph McManus. The Diocese of Worcester is a suffragan diocese in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

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 The Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts ( la, Diœcesis Campifontis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States comprising the counties of Berkshire, Franklin, ...

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. On June 3, 2017, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, Bishop McManus consecrated the diocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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. In his letter, Flanagan stated that Fr. David A. Holley "has been ... ccused ofmolesting 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 ... ccusationswere 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." 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. 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. 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." Holley was later convicted of sexual abuse in New Mexico in 1993 and given a prison sentence of 55 to 275 years.

Bishops

Bishops of Worcester

# John Joseph Wright (1950-1959), appointed Bishop of Pittsburgh and later

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardi ...

(elevated to Cardinal in 1969) #

Bernard Joseph Flanagan Bernard Joseph Flanagan (March 31, 1908 – January 28, 1998) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Norwich in Connecticut (1953–1959) and as bishop of the Diocese of Worcester in Massac ...

(1959-1983) #

Timothy Joseph Harrington Timothy Joseph Harrington (December 19, 1918 – March 23, 1997) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Worcester in Massachusetts from 1983 to 1994. He previously served as an auxili ...

(1983-1994) # Daniel Patrick Reilly (1994-2004) # Robert Joseph McManus (2004–present)

Auxiliary bishops

(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 An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

and

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

in 2013

Organization of parishes

In 2004, Bishop Reilly grouped parishes into "clusters". 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.

High schools

* St Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School, Worcester *

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

*, 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 St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School is a private school, private, Roman Catholic high school in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, associated with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester. It was established on the site of Holy Name Ce ...

, Worcester

Administrators

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

References

External links

*
Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Worcester
*2012-2013 Worcester Diocesan Directory {{Authority control Catholic Church in Massachusetts

1950 establishments in Massachusetts Religion in Worcester County, Massachusetts