WASHINGTON—Over 10,000 pilgrims, many of them youth from schools around the nation, are expected to gather in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to pray for an end to abortion at the Opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life, Wednesday, January 21, at 6:30 p.m., the eve of the annual March for Life. The vigil coincides with the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision on January 22, 1973, which legalized abortion nationwide. Since the decision was handed down, an estimated 56 million abortions have been performed legally in the United States.

On Sunday, January 18, Bishop Richard J. Malone will be the main celebrant at the annual diocesan Mass honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Rev. Brother Henry Fulmer, OFM, from the diocese of Charleston, S.C., will be the guest homilist. The Mass will be held at Blessed Trinity Church, 317 Leroy Ave., Buffalo, at 10:30 a.m.

Most Reverend Bernard J. McLaughlin, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Buffalo, died Monday evening, Jan. 5, 2015, at his home in Kenmore, one day before he would have celebrated the 46th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop.

Most Reverend Bernard J. McLaughlin, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Buffalo, died Monday evening, Jan. 5, 2015, at his home in Kenmore, one day before he would have celebrated the 46th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop.

Bishop Richard J. Malone will announce the goal, theme and patron saint of the 91st annual appeal to support Catholic Charities' services provided throughout Western New York and the Bishop's Fund for the Faith on Wednesday, Jan. 7, The kick-off event will be held at 10:30 a.m., at Catholic Charities' A Gathering Place, a daily social program for adults 60 years of age and older, located at 128 Wilson St., Buffalo.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, 14th bishop of Buffalo, has named Kevin A. Keenan, former communications director for the Diocese of Buffalo, diocesan representative to the New York State Public Policy Committee.

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St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo, has scheduled a number of celebrations during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

WASHINGTON—The 27th national collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious will be held in parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo and throughout the United States on the weekend of December 13 and 14. The annual, parish-based appeal is coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) and benefits more than 35,000 senior Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests.

Television viewers across Western New York will begin to see "evangomercials TM" beginning in mid-December, offering inspiring stories of faith and hope, as the Diocese of Buffalo embarks on its latest New Evangelization initiative, inviting inactive Catholics and others home to Jesus and His Church.

Bishop Richard J. Malone was present at the Vatican on Nov. 17, when Pope Francis announced he will attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next September. Bishop Malone is in Rome, participating in the International Colloquium: The Complementarity of Man and Woman, through Nov. 19.

Rome, Italy (November 17, 2014) - In remarks offered today in Rome, Pope Francis formally announced his intention to attend the World Meeting of Families - Philadelphia 2015, set to be held September 22-27, 2015. This visit will mark his first to the United States as pope. He will be only the fourth reigning Pontiff to visit our nation in its history.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis has released an online version of the "United States Catholic Catechism for Adults" (USCCA). The free, online resource is available in English and Spanish.

BALTIMORE—Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, invited the U.S. bishops to a 2015 Lay Ecclesial Ministry Summit. He made the invitation during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Fall General Assembly, November 11, in Baltimore. The gathering will take place June 7, 2015, to mark the tenth anniversary of the bishops' statement "Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord" (2005), just prior to the USCCB Spring General Assembly in St. Louis.

WASHINGTON—Drawing on the teachings of Pope Francis, the theme of the 2015 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, February 7-10 in Washington, will be "To Go Forth: Encountering Christ in the Heart of the World." The gathering brings together hundreds of Catholics from across the country who work in ministries at parishes, dioceses and college and university campuses. The theme is meant to echo Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, and observe the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes.

During the 2014 General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the results of a 3 1/2 - year-study on what concerned Catholics were presented. The survey, which showed that Catholics want to know the "whys" of their faith and worry about the church walking a fine line between politics and advocacy, included responses from lay leaders, parish priests, and "engaged parishioners."

BALTIMORE—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) chose a new secretary-elect of the Conference and the chairmen-elect of five committees and new members of the board of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), during the bishops' annual fall General Assembly, November 11-14, in Baltimore.

Bishop Richard J. Malone and three archbishops from the United States have been invited to participate in the International Colloquium: The Complementarity of Man and Woman, which will be held at the Vatican, Nov. 17-19. Bishop Malone is chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.

Approximately 300 high school students from throughout Western New York attended a recording of the 2014 Christmas Mass at the Mercy Center Chapel of the Sisters of Mercy in South Buffalo on Saturday. Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, was the celebrant for the Mass that will air nationwide on NBC channels on Christmas Day.

In December 2014, the Diocese of Buffalo will launch the Catholics Come Home campaign. In the first six years, Catholics Come Home messages were aired as TV commercials in 37 dioceses, and nationally, reaching 200 million viewers, and helping lead hundreds of thousands home to the Catholic Church.

WASHINGTON—The chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, and the chairman of the USCCB's Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, expressed serious disappointment at the October 6 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to consider current cases that strike down laws upholding marriage as between one man and one woman.

Lukasz Kopala, Thomas M. Mahoney and Daniel Ehijiator Ogbeifun all will move one step closer to the priesthood on Saturday, Sept. 27, when Bishop Richard J. Malone ordains them transitional deacons for the Diocese of Buffalo. The ordination will take place at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo, at 10 a.m. The three men, students at Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora, will graduate in May 2015 and will later be ordained to the priesthood.

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) "confirms the U.S. bishops' longstanding concern about abortion coverage" in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), said Cardinal Seán O'Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop Richard J. Malone will be among 18 Catholic bishops from the United States taking part in the Bishops' Prayer Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land, scheduled for Sept. 10-19. Bishop Malone will deliver a prayer at Jacob's Well in Ramallah on Sept. 14, and lead a Muslim-Christian Prayer for Peace with students at Bethlehem University on Sept. 18.

Entering the digital realm for the first time, the Catholic Directory for the Diocese of Buffalo is now available entirely online as a free PDF document at http://www.buffalodiocese.org/directory and via the menu sidebar or Parishes tab on the Diocesan website. Anyone connected to the Internet now has access at no cost to the valuable contact and statistical information contained in the Diocesan Directory.

Bishop Richard J. Malone delivered the Invocation at the opening of the 2014 Legislative session for the New York State Senate on Jan. 8, 2014. Bishop Malone was invited to Albany to by Senator Mark Grisanti of Buffalo.

PORTLAND---Pope Francis has appointed the Most Rev. Robert P. Deeley, J.C.D., Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, as the 12th Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

The following statement was posted on the news page of the Archdiocese of Baltimore website on Nov. 7, 2013. The priest who is the subject of the statement, Father Michael Kolodziej, OFM Conv., was a priest of the Diocese of Buffalo from his ordination in 1970 until 1974, and was stationed here by the Franciscan Order from 1979 until 1988.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, released the following statement on the election of Pope Francis:

South Buffalo Catholic School (SBCS) will continue its focus on a strong Catholic identity, catechesis and evangelization as three campuses become one next fall when SBCS transitions to a single campus. The South Buffalo Catholic School board recommended that Notre Academy on Abbott Road be the sole campus for students in Pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade. Bishop Richard J. Malone approved the recommendation, which takes effect Sept. 1, 2013.

At Mass, Bishop Richard J. Malone is asking people to use common sense if they have a cold and/or flu symptoms, or are concerned about catching the flu, to please refrain from the option of drinking from the chalice and/or shaking hands at the sign of peace.

Bishop Malone's Christmas message:

Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, issued the following statement in response to the school shootings in Newtown, Conn

BALTIMORE - Bishop Richard J. Malone was elected chairman-elect of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth at the Fall General Assembly on Nov. 12. He was also re-elected to the board of Catholic Relief Services.

Bishop Bernard J. McLaughlin, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Buffalo, will celebrate his 100th birthday at Noon on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, with a special Mass that will be celebrated at St. John the Baptist Church in Kenmore, where he served as pastor in the 1970s and is now pastor emeritus.

Declining enrollment and significant financial challenges have resulted in decisions to close Holy Family School in LeRoy and Catholic Academy of the Holy Family in Jamestown.

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in a May 21 statement, applauded 43 dioceses, hospitals, schools and church agencies for filing 12 lawsuits around the nation saying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate violates religious freedom.

On consecutive weekends in June, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec will president over ordinations at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo.

President Barack Obama's announcement that he is now in favor of same-sex marraige has drawn crticial reaction from Catholic Church leaders in the United States. During a May 9, ABC-TV News interview, the president said, ""At a certain point, I've just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

In our recent visit to the state Capitol in Albany, we had the opportunity to meet personally with Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver, and numerous legislators. While we came prepared to speak on various concerns that we brought to their attention, our first words in every meeting after the initial greetings were "Thank you."