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VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis on Sunday officially declared Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint of the Catholic Church in front of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square - a move the entire world has been waiting for.

On the first day of school, each Catholic elementary school student will go home with a blank registration form to encourage all those who are eligible, but are not registered to vote, to do so in time to vote in the fall elections.

On September 9, the feast of St. Peter Claver, the U.S. Catholic bishops are urging dioceses, parishes, and other faith communities to participate in a Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities. This day complements the ongoing work of a special task force, led by Archbishop Gregory, to help bishops and communities engage the challenging problems connected with race relations.

After living mostly away from his family, a refugee originally from what is now South Sudan was able to reunite with his wife and three of their four children at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, with most of them never before having set foot on American soil. On July 27, Fidele Diing Dhan, who has been working with Reaching Out 2 Africa with Father Ronald Sajdak and Joan Ersing, met his wife, Abang Garang Kuol, and their children Abuk, Lok and Gau at the airport. Dhan, born in what is now South Sudan, has lived here since 2001.

BUFFALO - 101.7 FM WLOF Catholic Radio will provide listeners with exclusive live radio coverage of the canonization of Mother Teresa on September 4, 2016, in conjunction with the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) Radio.

The annual Men's Retreat sponsored by the Holy Name Society had a change in venue this year. Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora hosted 35 guests who learned about "The Blessed Mother and Her Apparitions" through talks and sharing.

The Buffalo State College Newman Center will welcome back an alumnus for a special Mass as it kicks off its 79th year. Father Zachary Miller, a 2008 grad, will celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit, a tradition from medieval times at universities in Paris, Bologna and Salamanca to invoke the Spirit's gifts at the opening of the school year.

Local high school students had the chance to ask difficult questions about their faith and the moral dimensions relevant to the modern-day challenges they encounter, at Canisius College's inaugural Be the Light Youth Theology Institute.

ROME, ITALY (CNA) - A group of Holy See firefighters sent by Pope Francis to an earthquake-devastated town in Italy rescued a three-year-old boy from the rubble of his home.

TONAWANDA — Cardinal O'Hara High School has named Brian Lamping, of the COHS class of 2001, as athletic director, and Jill Monaco as assistant principal. Both new appointees have had a long history in Catholic education and received high marks from their supervisor.

Bishop Richard J. Malone celebrated an outdoor Mass for the volunteers of Buffalo's Little Portion Friary on Saturday, Aug. 13. Over three dozen of the homeless shelter's volunteer staff attended the annual Mass and picnic with the bishop.

The diocesan Care for Creation Committee and Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish will team up with NYSERDA to save the planet and help people save some money. The Blasdell parish will host an energy workshop on Thursday, Sept. 1.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - It's been said that saints often come in pairs.

After a few years of planning and one year of construction, the Mother Teresa Home has officially opened on Buffalo's East Side. Hundreds gathered on Thursday afternoon for a dedication Mass at St. Adalbert Church and then watched on a live video stream as Bishop Richard J. Malone blessed the tiny chapel in the Mother Teresa Home next door.

The goal of the "Gear Up" engineering component of the STREAM initiative is to allow students to explore the engineering design process as they tackle challenges directly related to the curriculum.

With two weeks to go before the start of the school year, more than 300 Catholic school teachers from the Diocese of Buffalo gathered on Wednesday at St. Joseph Collegiate Institute to get some hands on preparation for teaching various STREAM courses to students in the coming school year.

In order to carry out the Jesuit tradition of serving the poor while also helping the organizations that serve them, volunteers of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps serve throughout the Diocese of Buffalo. The organization is a recent addition to Western New York, having expanded here in February. Jesuit priests found the group, which pairs semi-retired men and women with service groups, in 1995.

The Public Policy Committee of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo is hosting a public forum on Thursday, Sept. 8, to address proposed New York State legislation that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide. The bill has already been approved by the Assembly Health Committee, setting the stage for a possible vote this year. Senator Diane Savino, of Staten Island, and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, of Scarsdale, each sponsored bills which 'relate to a terminally ill patient's request for and use of medication for medical aid in dying.'

It's been just about a year since Father Andrew Lauricella exchanged his role of a parish priest for an office in the downtown Buffalo Catholic Center. He now serves as the director of vocations for the diocese. He has gone from bringing God to the people, to bringing people to God.

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.

Spain, Portugal and France are all on the itinerary next March, when Msgr. David Slubecky, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Buffalo, will lead a group of local Catholics on a pilgrimage which will include the sight of a candlelight procession outside the Little Chapel of Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal. The trip falls within weeks of the 100th anniversary of when the Mother of God appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima.

The thrill of World Youth Day needs to continue in our parishes. Bishop Richard J. Malone encourages parishes to continue the spiritual journey in this week's "Consider This."

Once again we reflect upon our concerns for the Catholic Church in Poland. Through the 73-year history of the Catholic League Organization much has been accomplished in charity, which cannot be evaluated in dollars alone or weighed by any material instrument.

From San Bernardino to France to Dallas and back to France; violence has erupted in all corners of the world. In Amherst, a group of church leaders sought to deliver a message of peace

Home is where Cheryl Calire's heart is. After a year of cleaning, carpentry and more cleaning, she will open the Mother Teresa Home, a place for women who have chosen life to live. The ribbon-cutting and dedication will take place Thursday, Aug. 25, with Bishop Richard J. Malone blessing the house.

The first-ever "Burgers, Brews and Blues" event hosted by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities was a sold-out success, drawing a crowd of 150 people to help raise money for the Williamsville Franciscan community Tuesday evening.

In 1990, a Sister of St. Joseph serving at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish on the East Side of Buffalo got the idea to start a residence for homeless women after noticing how many young women were wandering the neighborhood's streets. After seven years, Sister Mary Augusta Kaiser, SSJ started the Teaching and Restoring Youth program.

A weekend filled with live music, classic cars, numerous raffles and delicious food offerings will highlight the 79th annual summer picnic at the Church of the Annunciation, 7580 Clinton St., Elma. The event kicks off on Friday, Aug. 19, and concludes with a grand drawing the evening of Sunday, Aug. 21.

"What a special day this is for Our Lady of Victory and for all of us." said Bishop Richard J. Malone, bishop of Buffalo, as he prepared to anoint the new altar at Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna on Sunday afternoon.

St. John Paul II called for all believers to spread the message of the Gospel. As the growing season in Western New York is in full swing, one local parish is focusing on cultivating and growing its faith, strengthening the foundation of the people for generations to come.

Hello, Diocese of Buffalo. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Patrick McPartland, and I am the new managing editor of the Western New York Catholic newspaper.

A tradition dating back almost a century will come to an end in early August, when the final campers spend a week at the St. Vincent de Paul Summer Camp on the shores of Lake Erie in Angola.

On this month's episode of "Our Daily Bread," the show's host, Father Paul D. Seil, will be talking about the Ten Commandments and how they set the tone for one to live a sound life in the Catholic tradition.

Last month, Cardinal O'Hara High School in Tonawanda welcomed fifth- through eighth-graders to its campus for its 2016 summer camps. Tailored toward specific interests, they included a summer enrichment camp for a variety of academic subjects, an acting and singing camp, and a creative writing camp, in addition to a lineup of three sports clinics for youth to engage in baseball, football and soccer.

Saints... you can sense their influence, in a mysterious way even their presence, everywhere in Kraków. St. John Paul II and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, of course, are prominent. Then there is the cell at Auschwitz that memorializes St. Maximilian Kolbe, who gave his life so that another prisoner could live. Today I offered catechesis and celebrated Eucharist with hundreds of pilgrims from Ireland in a parish church dedicated to the great St. Casimir.

Blessed Mary Angela Parish in Dunkirk continues a Southern Tier tradition of holding a summer gathering that predates the merged parish's current name. Formerly St. Hedwig and St. Hyacinth, Blessed Mary Angela's annual lawn fete will take place from noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 14.

WILLIAMSVILLE — The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities will host their inaugural "Burgers, Brews and Blues" summer fundraiser on Tuesday, Aug. 16, at St. Mary of the Angels at 201 Reist St. Event proceeds will benefit the sisters' important ministries throughout Western New York and beyond.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has appointed Father Robert W. Zilliox Jr. pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Bowmansville, for a term of six years. In his new role, which began August 1, he takes over for Father Joseph Klos who retired in May. Father Zilliox will continue to serve as judge and defender of the bond in the Tribunal of the Diocese of Buffalo, a position he has held since 2013.

This week we hear from the new managing editor of the Western New York Catholic, Patrick McPartland.

Bishop Richard Malone talks about the first Bishop of Buffalo, Bishop John Timon and shares some interesting and funny anecdotes about his life in "Consider This."