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WASHINGTON—Pope Francis expressed his solidarity with all those affected by Hurricane Harvey, in a message conveyed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

TONAWANDA — Thomas Wilkie and Tim Adowski, Cardinal O'Hara High School class of 2010, returned to the school earlier this year to demonstrate Storillo, an online program that facilitates student collaboration on group projects, which they developed.

WASHINGTON—Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has called on the bishops to consider taking up a special collection to support victims of Hurricane Harvey and to provide pastoral and rebuilding support to impacted dioceses.

KENMORE — St. John the Baptist School recently dedicated the Elaine Cambria Memorial Signpost in honor of a beloved teacher who spent most of her 37-year career teaching kindergarten at the school and passed away earlier this year. Faculty and students presented the dedication in conjunction with the annual kindergarten play, a tradition that Cambria had initiated decades ago. Her son John and granddaughter Hannah represented the family at the ceremony.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) president, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, has called for prayers and solidarity with those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Cardinal DiNardo also called on all people of good will to closely monitor future calls for assistance for victims and survivors in the days ahead.

WASHINGTON, DC (CNA/EWTN News) - Parochial schools are better at their task than public schools, say respondents to a survey of Americans' attitudes towards varieties of schooling.

Stop Complaining. Bishop Richard J. Malone suggests when you are tempted to whine, turn things over to the Lord in a new "Consider This."

Plans are underway for a pilgrimage to Panama for World Youth Day 2019. Father Michael LaMarca will lead a group to Central America in January 2019 for the spiritual event. Due to the winter dates, there will be no diocesan pilgrimage from the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, who have organized trips to Denver, Paris, Toronto, Cologne and Krakow in past years.

LANCASTER — Our Lady of Pompeii Parish is generating new excitement in the renewal of their youth groups. In the last few months, both parishioners and non-parishioners attended youth nights and events which enriched the participant's faith and created a growing sense of camaraderie.

They are hoping to start a new religious congregation and, on Tuesday, three women from the Diocese of Buffalo took a big individual step in their formation as Marian Franciscan Sisters. They received their religious habits and new religious names as Bishop Richard Malone received them into the novitiate in a special Mass at Our Lady Chapel in St. Joseph Cathedral.

Bishop John Timon left a lasting impression on the Diocese of Buffalo, the full scope of which is probably not well known. Two seminary professors plan to change that with a series of lectures on the diocese's founding shepherd.

Located on the campus of Sisters Hospital on Main Street in Buffalo, the St. Catherine Laboure Health Care Center offers a full range of services to assist residents and patients in need of long-term care and rehabilitation. To assist those who wish to live at home and maintain their independence, while still receiving needed services to remain healthy, the center's Adult Day Health Care Program offers a place for adults of all ages to socialize and receive care for several hours per day in a controlled environment.

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., Aug. 15, 2017 — Students who are new to the Bona family will begin arriving at St. Bonaventure University Aug. 24 for Welcome Days 2017, a four-day program hosted the weekend before classes begin.

St. Joseph Cathedral, the central church for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, has undergone a changing of the guard. Father Charles E. Slisz has come out of retirement to take over the role of cathedral rector from Father Peter Drilling, who has served in that position since 2014. Father Drilling will continue his long career teaching at Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora.

Bishop Richard J. Malone is calling on the faithful to continue praying for healing after Saturday's deadly attack at a protest in Charlottsville, Virginia. "Our hearts and prayers are in Charlottsville as we condemn the evil of white supremacism, New-Nazism and every form of racism," said Bishop Malone. "God save us."

As I write this column, I am in Massachusetts, the "land of my birth," where I have been blessed to step out of the whirlwind for a few quiet summer days of R and R. I should add a third R to Rest and Relaxation, as a vacation priority for me always is to catch up on Reading.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has announced new clergy assignments at several parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo. The appointments include welcoming three priests to the diocese.

A weekend filled with live music, classic cars, numerous raffles and delicious food offerings will highlight the 80th annual summer picnic at the Church of the Annunciation, 7580 Clinton St., Elma. The event kicks off on Friday, Aug. 18, and concludes with a grand drawing the evening of Sunday, Aug. 20.

In apostolic times, when the Church in Jerusalem was in great distress, St. Paul did not hesitate to ask the Catholics of Corinth to give generously to the relief of their brothers in religion. This bond of human solidarity and Christian brotherhood has been in the Church through the ages. Whenever distress came to our brothers in the faith in one part of the world, those in other parts were always willing to extend to them their helping hand.

CLARENCE — Sisters of St. Joseph, associates and friends gathered under a tent June 23 at their Clarence residence to ritualize the recent sale of some of their Clarence land and buildings and to honor their deceased sisters with a tree-planting ceremony.

For 35 years, the Erie County Fair has hosted an annual tradition, one that is relatively unknown even to many Western New Yorkers, but consistently draws a crowd of around 200 people each year. Held on the fairgrounds' Evans Bank Family Entertainment Complex, this year's Mass on the Midway, a Catholic service to accompany its annual day honoring veterans, will take place at 10 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 13.

While teachers who work in any diocesan Catholic schools often feel the pinch of budgetary concerns, this becomes even more of a concern in low-income areas where students' families find it difficult to afford school supplies, requiring teachers to buy them. However, thanks to the efforts of a retired autoworker and substitute teacher, The Teacher's Desk, located just off of Main Street in the city of Buffalo, has let teachers in eligible schools in Western New York shop for donated supplies free of charge since 2011.

Denver, Colo., Aug 5, 2017 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- With awareness of mental health conditions on the rise, how is the Church called to respond to those who do not simply wish to end their lives, but push for the right to do so legally?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit down with a bishop and chat, just chat, about whatever's on your mind? What would you ask him?

HAMBURG — Sister Christine Songin, FSSJ, and Sister Benilda Nadolski, FSSJ, celebrated their 75th jubilee, and Sister Ann Marie Hudzina, FSSJ, celebrated her 50th jubilee on May 28 at Immaculate Conception Convent.

WILLIAMSVILLE — The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities will host their second annual "Burgers, Brews and Blues" summer fundraiser on Tuesday, Aug. 15 at St. Mary of the Angels Convent, 201 Reist St., in Williamsville. Event proceeds will benefit the sisters' important ministries throughout Western New York and beyond.

WASHINGTON—The Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, says that the newly proposed RAISE Act would cause our nation to turn its back on those setting out to build better lives, weaken family bonds and impact the nation's ability to respond to those in crisis. Bishop Vásquez's full statement follows:

The Buffalo Diocese' STREAM program has proven to be a model of education for the nation. Representatives from Buffalo led a two-day conference to teach other educators how to make the tech program work in their schools. Jean Comer, diocesan STREAM coordinator, and Shelly Reidy, diocesan professional development coordinator, traveled to Chicago's Loyola University to explain and demonstrate how to deliver the principles of STREAM education to the classrooms, school or diocese.

As part of a collaboration between Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston and Catholic Cemeteries, the two entities came together on Aug. 2 to bless and dedicate a new space on the grounds of Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Lewiston for families who have suffered losses associated with miscarriage. The newly dedicated section of the cemetery is designated specifically for fetuses aged 20 weeks or younger.

In honor of the 81st anniversary of Venerable Nelson H. Baker's death, Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica continued its longstanding tradition of honoring the beloved Buffalo icon on July 30. A congregation, including clergy, religious, lay faithful and "Baker Boys," men who lived at Father Baker's orphanage as young boys, listened as Msgr. Paul J.E. Burkard, rector of the basilica, urged all Catholic faithful to use Father Baker's life of service as an ideal role model for modern day sainthood.

Most of the retired priests of the Diocese of Buffalo are hardly "retired" at all. Msgr. Angelo Caligiuri is a good example of that. At age 83, he still serves on the Priests Personnel Board, Diocesan Finance Council, board of directors for the Diocesan Counseling Center, and says weekend Masses and occasionally a weekday Mass at St. Joseph University Parish in Buffalo.

Hundreds of people are expected to join Bishop Richard J. Malone on Sunday, Aug. 6, Transfiguration Sunday, at 10 a.m. for a special outdoor Mass at St. John XXIII Parish, 1 Arcade St. (corner of Harlem Road), West Seneca. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs. This will be the only Mass at the parish on Sunday, Aug. 6.

WILLIAMSVILLE — It has been an exciting year for STREAM at St. Gregory the Great School. St. Greg's has adopted the STREAM culture implementing, and building onto, much of the initiative curriculum. Teachers are planning their teaching around core principles of collaboration through interdisciplinary lessons and hands-on learning experiences, especially through use of the engineering design process.

The Diocese of Buffalo's ordination class of 1967 recently shared a 50th anniversary Mass, paying special honor to Father Guy Siracuse, a classmate, a fellow priest, a friend who has spent the last 18 years at the Brothers of Mercy Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Clarence following a stroke. Now, with limited mobility and speech, he remains a much-loved brother of his class.

As the Upon This Rock campaign officially surpasses the $100 million mark this month, it is by no means too late to contribute. While the pledge phase is winding down, the distribution is just beginning. Parishes began to receive checks last summer representing their 35 percent share of the fund drive. This summer, a total of $94,000 will be distributed to 18 Catholic schools to enhance or, in the case of seven of those schools, launch a STREAM program for the first time.

EAST AURORA — Since January, a group of about a dozen boys has been meeting every Wednesday evening at Christ the King Seminary. The newly organized group is part of a national discipleship program known as Fraternus.

Gathered under shelter 16 at Ellicott Creek Park, about 30 young adults celebrated Mass on a warm summer's day. Members of [re], Frassati WNY and a few strays came to worship in an environment different from the four walls and stained glass of their churches. St. Benedict Parish in Eggertsville hosted the event. Pastor Father Robert Mock celebrated the July 22 Mass.

Earlier this year, an inquiry from a Southern Tier resident led to the rediscovery of, and renewed interest in, a piece of diocesan history: a quilt that parishioners from all existing diocesan parishes, as of 1997, contributed to that year for the 150th anniversary of the Diocese of Buffalo. For a few years after this, the completed quilt, consisting of four large, separate panels, traveled from parish to parish. Since then, it has remained safety stored in the Catholic Center in downtown Buffalo.

The gift of a building from a Youngstown businessman will allow the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to resume retail operations in Niagara Falls.

Bishop John Timon, ordained as a Vincentian priest, was immersed in the order's charisms reflecting social justice and the Gospel values of care for the poor, sick, widowed and orphaned, and he lived by the motto of the order: Evangelizare pauperibus misit me - "He has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor." Soon after his arrival, the bishop discovered the immediate need for an orphanage and hospital. Writing in his diary years later he believed that the purpose of the Catholic Church in Buffalo was to: "satisfy their worldly and spiritual needs."