Current News

The Department of Catholic Schools wants you to vote, and will do what it takes to help you register.

Mount St. Mary Academy teamed up with area schools in the spirit of jazz. Three Catholic high schools and three public high schools played on the same bill at a jazz festival at Banchetti by Rizzo's, Saturday, Jan. 30, beginning at 6 p.m.

Sister Theresa Marie Malloy, of the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban, died Jan. 22, 2016, at St. Columban's on the Lake Retirement Home in Silver Creek. She was 91 years of age.

Deacon Jimmie L. Boyd, a permanent deacon serving at Blessed Trinity Parish in Buffalo, died Jan. 20, 2016. He was 75 years old.

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."

The results of Catholic education were on display. From the handmade robots to the generous donations to the touching video of a grad who tragically passed away, Gala 22:6 showed the power of what a Catholic education can do.

The theme for the National Catholic Schools Week 2016 is "Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service." The annual observance, which is a project of the National Catholic Educational Association, starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, which in 2016 is Jan. 31-Feb. 6.

D'Youville College in Buffalo has received approval from the State Education Department to offer a graduate program in anatomy that will include current techniques being used in anatomical research.

Canisius College in Buffalo is one of a select group of private four-year colleges and universities across the nation to receive a grant from the Lilly Endowment. Canisius will receive $583,000 to establish the Be the Light Youth Theology Institute at the college.

Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora will host a unique opportunity to see many sites of historical significance in Europe from June 12-23, 2016. The pilgrimage is courtesy of Nawas International, a company that has arranged Christian pilgrimages to Europe and the Holy Land for the last 66 years.

Teens from across the diocese will get to "Know Mercy" at this year's diocesan youth convention. Pope Francis' call for a Jubilee Year of Mercy throughout 2016 inspired the theme of the 64th annual gathering of Catholic teens.

Many of us in the pro-life movement have heard someone make the claim that they're firmly against abortion but see nothing wrong with contraception. This statement shows a common confusion that blurs the truth, espoused and cherished by our Church, about the gift of life and the dignity of every person.

The diocesan Department of Youth & Young Adult Ministry is reaching out to young adults through a new website.

WASHINGTON, DC (CNA/EWTN News) - "Women's liberation." "Women's rights movement." "War on women."

HOUSTON, TEXAS (CNA/EWTN News) - Updated Jan 25, 2016 at 18:16 MST: The Center for Medical Progress issued a statement saying it "uses the same undercover techniques that investigative journalists have used for decades in exercising our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press, and follows all applicable laws. We respect the processes of the Harris County District Attorney, and note that buying fetal tissue requires a seller as well. Planned Parenthood still cannot deny the admissions from their leadership about fetal organ sales captured on video for all the world to see."

Once again, Buffalonians had their plans crushed by their archenemy - snow. An incoming blizzard forced a contingent of 360 people from the Diocese of Buffalo to flee Washington, D.C. just an hour before the March for Life began.

Sister Maria of the Rosary, of the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary, died Dec. 31, 2015, in Buffalo. She was 98 years of age.

Bishop Richard Malone explains the teaching of the Catholic church on the protection of human life in a new "Consider This." Catholics cannot accept abortion as something that is moral and right.

When unbaptized adults (or older children) seek to join the Catholic Church, they are "embedded" in their parish community for a time of faith formation called the Catechumenate, which culminates in the celebration of the Sacraments of Initiation and full membership in the Church.

As time speeds by, World Youth Day gets closer and closer. The international gathering of Catholic teens and young adults will take place in less than eight months.

The diocesan Pontifical Mission Societies has welcomed its new director. Father Justus Ndyamukama, native of Tanzania, East Africa, will help support the Catholic faith in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Canisius High School juniors Joe Arno and Warren Arno, and Canisius High School senior Joe McEachon will each be awarded the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America on Sunday, January 24, in an Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony.

The town of Alden looked a lot like Poland when St. John the Baptist Parish held a special Polka Mass and dinner dance in January. World Youth Day pilgrims hosted the Polish Heritage Dancers and served up kielbasa and pierogi to raise funds for the summer pilgrimage to Krakow.

The 2016 March for Life will take place in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Jan. 22. Catholics and others in solidarity will join in a pilgrimage of public witness, penance and prayer for all those victimized by the1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In his general audience during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis focused on the common baptism Christians share, saying the strength of this bond is stronger than existing divisions.

A trio of women hope to start a fire in Buffalo, through holding a women's conference in the diocese. With the theme of "Igniting the Fire Within," these women wish to help all Catholic women to live their faith fully each day.

On Jan. 17, one day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Diocese of Buffalo honored the birthday of the late civil rights leader with a Mass at St. Martin de Porres Church in Buffalo. Bishop Martin D. Holley, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., was celebrant and homilist at this Mass, sponsored by the African-American Commission and the diocese's Office of Cultural Diversity.

The 16th annual Catholic Education dinner - GALA 22:6 - will be held on Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. More than 1,200 guests are expected to attend the event, which is The Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo's largest annual fundraiser for Catholic education.

ST. BONAVENTURE - After almost 20 years of service to the university, the last 12 as its president, St. Bonaventure University President Sister Margaret Carney, OSF, announced her decision to step down from the position on July 31.

The new Queen of Angels Cremation Garden saw its first interment in December, at Queen of Heaven Cemetery on Tonawanda Creek Road in the Town of Lockport.

This Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis invites us all to not just meditate on this theme but to also get involved, reach out and get others with this gift that we so many times are given undeservingly by our heavenly Father. We are given it practically every single day and may not even realize it.

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Prayer Vigil for Life will be held from Thursday afternoon, January 21-Friday morning, January 22, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where Pope Francis celebrated Mass during his recent visit to Washington. Over 20,000 pilgrims from around the nation will pray there for an end to abortion before the annual March for Life.

WASHINGTON, DC - Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop Richard Malone's latest "Consider This" reflects on the Year of Mercy, how it relates to young people and the value of attending the 2016 Diocesan Youth Convention

Msgr. John W. Zeitler died Jan. 11, 2016, at Buffalo General Hospital, at age 83.

Diocesan bulletin announcements for the week of Jan. 11, 2016.

WASHINGTON, DC - Hundreds of Catholics from across the country who work in ministries at parishes, dioceses, national organizations and college and university campuses will explore the implications of Pope Francis' teachings on ecology and mercy at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, January 23-26, in Washington. The theme of the gathering, "Called to Live Mercy in Our Common Home," is meant to echo Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' and the ongoing celebration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has appointed two priests to new assignments and has reappointed two others to additional term at their current parishes.

WASHINGTON, DC (CNA) - A prominent proposal by GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump would ban Muslim immigrants from entering the U.S. and would monitor mosques in the country.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - On Wednesday Pope Francis launched a new series of catechesis on mercy for his general audiences, telling pilgrims that the love and forgiveness of God can't be overcome by anything, including our sin.