More than nine weeks after Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico, many residents of the island are trying to pull their lives back together somewhere else. For at least 400 of them, that somewhere else is Buffalo. That's why Holy Cross Catholic Church on the city's lower west side assembled a day long outreach in the parish hall to provide counseling from agencies offering social services, housing, employment counseling, medical insurance, food, furniture and schooling.

"Persecution has a face," said Bishop Oscar Cantú, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, as he presented an oral report to the full body of bishops on the situation of religious discrimination and persecution in Asia and the Middle East.

TONAWANDA — Callum Antonio, a freshman at Cardinal O'Hara High School, and his family were on hand at a historic event during a weeklong visit to Italy, when Pope Francis closed St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on Nov. 20 to conclude the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year of Mercy, which began Dec. 8, 2015.

As I write these words to you, we are experiencing the end of two long-term events: the presidential election and the Jubilee Year of Mercy. While the close of the Year of Mercy is bittersweet, the end of the election could not come soon enough. Yet the close proximity of these two closures offers us much food for thought and reflection.

WASHINGTON - Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), welcomed Pope Francis' November 20 apostolic letter "Misericordia et Misera" ("Mercy and Misery"). In his letter, Pope Francis extended the Year of Mercy provision granting priests worldwide a faculty related to the sin of abortion: "Lest any obstacle arise between the request for reconciliation and God's forgiveness, I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion."

ROME, ITALY (CNA/EWTN News) - Although the Jubilee of Mercy has ended, Pope Francis has decided that some of the novelties he applied to the Church during the Holy Year will continue.

As Pope Francis' Jubilee Year of Mercy comes to a close, we need to remember to continue sharing mercy and compassion with others. Watch Bishop Richard J. Malone in "Consider This."

The latest presentation in a faith enrichment series at Our Lady of Pompeii in Lancaster ponders what happens after the Year of Mercy.

After a Jubilee Year filled with mercy, Bishop Richard J. Malone encouraged Catholics to continue practicing compassion and forgiveness during an evening prayer service Sunday at St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo.

As the Catholic world prepares to close out the Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Diocese of Buffalo will hold several ceremonies to mark the closing of the diocesan Mercy Doors. On Nov. 1, one week before the official end of the Year of Mercy, the seven churches in the diocese will ceremoniously close their Holy Doors.

Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, will officially close the Jubilee Year of Mercy here in the Diocese of Buffalo, on Sunday, Nov. 6, with an evening prayer service at 4 p.m. at St. Joseph Cathedral, 50 Franklin St., Buffalo. All are welcome.

As the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy officially comes to a close this month, there are a few more events that will take place at St. Leo the Great Church in Amherst. Pope Francis has decreed the Holy Year will conclude on Nov. 20.

Father Peter Calabrese, CRSP from the Fatima Shrine in Lewiston leads off the month of October, dedicated to the Holy Rosary.

Continuing our series on the Works of Mercy in our diocese, this week we visit the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

More than 120 bishops and 15 Cardinals will join in a continental celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in Bogotá, Colombia, on August 27-30.

ZAKOPANE, POLAND - Bishop Richard J. Malone once again met up with diocesan pilgrims who flew to Poland for World Youth Day. Although much of the bishop's time in Poland was spent at catechesis sessions for other dioceses, he managed to meet up with pilgrims from Buffalo on several occasions.

At St. Pius X Parish in Getzville, members of the parish community came together to celebrate the Year of Mercy, as Pope Francis declared, and to recognize the mercy of God through the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, presentations from parish leaders, inspirational videos and testimonials of parishioners who felt they have been touched by, or witnessed firsthand, the role of divine mercy in their lives.

Bishop Richard J. Malone reminds us that Pope Francis encourages us to be Missionary Disciples and to make mercy the theme of our life in "Consider This: Good News Every Day."

GETZVILLE — All are invited to join and celebrate the Year of Mercy in a three-day program titled, "Rediscovering The Mercy of God in this Jubilee Year of Mercy."

When Pope Francis announced the Holy Year of Mercy, he offered it as a special time for Catholics to receive blessings and pardons from God. In turn, people were asked to offer mercy to others in the form of forgiveness and assistance.

A weekend retreat called "Communion of Hearts" took place at the St. Columban Center in Derby on May 20-22. The theme was chosen as the retreat focused on entering into deeper union with God during the Year of Mercy by allowing participants to be touched by God's mercy and then sharing it with others.

EAST AURORA — Christ the King Seminary announced its Summer 2016 Dinner Lecture Series, consisting of four programs centered around the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which will take place in June and July on the seminary's East Aurora campus.

The sixth Corporal Work of Mercy is Bury the Dead. Bishop Richard J. Malone explains the three Catholic funeral rites in "Consider This."

Bishop Richard J. Malone talks about how Catholic Charities emulates the works of mercy and how we can help in this week's "Consider This."

At Little Portion Friary in Buffalo, a team of 100-plus volunteers lives the mission of the Catholic Church to provide food for the hungry, clothing for the naked, and shelter for the homeless.

Students of Niagara Catholic Jr./Sr. High School went out into their neighborhood to spend a day carrying out the Corporal Works of Mercy. They fed the hungry at soup kitchens, visited the sick at senior centers, and gave alms to the poor at community missions.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Thousands of poor and excluded men and women from across Europe will be given a once in a lifetime opportunity this November: a chance to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy in Rome with Pope Francis.

The fourth Corporal Work of Mercy is visit the imprisoned. Bishop Richard J. Malone shares an experience he had with while visiting a prison in Western New York in this week's "Consider This."

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Freedom does not come from things we possess or from doing whatever we want, Pope Francis said Sunday in his homily for the Jubilee for boys and girls. Rather, true freedom and happiness can only be found in the love of Jesus.

In the true spirit of the Year of Mercy, Bishop Richard J. Malone celebrated mass for about one hundred female prisoners at the Albion Correctional Facility in Orleans County Monday evening.

Bishop Richard J. Malone uses the story of St. Martin of Tours to discuss the third Corporal Work of Mercy, "clothe the naked," in "Consider This."

On Divine Mercy Sunday, April 3, St. Pius X Parish in Getzville will be tying a longstanding parish tradition in with the Holy Year of Mercy Pope Francis has declared. The parish will be offering confessions starting at 1:30 p.m., praying of the rosary at 2 p.m. and the Chaplet of Mercy at 2:45 p.m., and regular Mass at 3 p.m.

In this Jubilee year of Mercy we have been given a grand opportunity to look more deeply at ways to walk along in the journey of death through and to the life Jesus gave us by His Resurrection.

In this short "Consider This" reflection, Bishop Richard Malone introduces the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. This is the first of a series as Bishop Malone will reflect on each Work of Mercy during the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Pope Francis, in calling the Church to celebrate this Jubilee Year of Mercy, invites Catholics everywhere to "gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father's action in our lives."

In this Year of Mercy, the Lenten season will be a time for Catholics to reflect on the meaning of mercy and the importance of forgiveness, both of which have a long tradition in the Church. According to Pope Francis, in this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy the sacrament of reconciliation becomes more important than ever, with indulgences granted.

As the Year of Mercy continues, the Response to Love Center on Buffalo's East Side is continuing its commitment to serve the poor and help those in need in the example of Jesus Christ. The non-profit organization, located in the former St. Adalbert Parish school building, began in 1985 and has continued its mission of helping economically disadvantaged people with food, clothing, a sense of community and spiritual assistance, with the help of a dedicated group of volunteers.

Bishop Richard Malone shares an experience he had with spilled ashes on Ash Wednesday 30 years ago. He encourages us to think of each confessional door as a door of mercy in a new "Consider This."

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - When God is described in the Bible as being both merciful and just it can seem like an identity crisis, however Pope Francis said it's the opposite: rather than contradicting each other, the two actually go hand in hand.

Pope Francis created the 2016 Jubilee Year of Mercy to reflect, in a new way, the gift of God's Mercy. Bishop Richard Malone explains in "Consider This."