Current News

Many Western New Yorkers remeber November 2014 because of the several feet of snow that blocked doorways and stranded motorists. For Father Marcin Porada, parochial vicar at St. John Gualbert Parish in Cheektowaga, that November was a time of new beginnings as he came to the United States from Poland.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - The document set to guide this year's synod discussions on the family touches on hot-button issues such as homosexuality and divorced and remarried couples, stressing that mercy is something every family needs from the Church.

The Medina Sandstone Society has honored St. Louis Church, the oldest church in the Diocese of Buffalo, by inducting the church into its Sandstone Hall of Fame as an "outstanding example of Medina sandstone."

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the 16th-century hermit who founded the Society of Jesus, also designed the "Retreat in Daily Life." St. Michael Parish in Buffalo regularly offers these directed, group retreats at its downtown church.

The last time you were in the produce section of your favorite grocery store, chances are you didn't think about the people who made it possible for all of those fruits and vegetables to be there in front of you. We rarely think about that. It's almost as if the tomatoes and lettuce and apples just appear by magic.

Bishop Edward Grosz will be the principle celebrant for a Mass honoring the 150-year legacy of SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Williamsville on June 28 at 11:30 a.m.

Announcements for the week of June 22, 2015, include updates about Camp Turner, upcoming Marriage Encounter sessions and a wine and beer tasting party.

Ahead of the highly anticipated Synod on the Family in October, many dioceses and Catholic media producers are finding new ways to ramp up their resources on marriage and family life.

The Office of Pro-Life Activities has begun a campaign to distribute signs, bumper stickers, magnets and other materials advertising an outreach center for pregnant women in need and a counseling service for women and men who have experienced abortion.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNA) - With the release of Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment this week came a wave of controversy over the Pope's statements about climate change, species extinction and other scientific topics.

VATICAN CITY (CNA) - Speaking to a global gathering of priests, Pope Francis signaled an openness to changing the date of Easter in the West so that all Christians around the world could celebrate the feast on the same day.

One early morning in May, a contingent from Newfane began a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Fatima Shine in Lewiston, 15 miles away. The journey was to prepare, both physically and spiritually, for the welcoming of the graces of World Youth Day.

The Bible doesn't tell us much about the earthly father of Jesus but from the little that it does tell us, fathers can learn a lot about what is needed to be a good Christian father. Who was St. Joseph and what can we learn from him today?

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In his new encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis slams attacks against human life such as abortion, embryonic experimentation and population control - saying that respect for creation and human dignity go hand in hand.

Pope Francis said fathers need to be by their wife's side though life. Bishop Richard J. Malone talks about his father's faithfulness to his mother and family in a new "Consider This."

WASHINGTON - Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), responded to the shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, with "grief and deep sadness," June 19. He said the Catholic community "stands with all people who struggle for an end to racism and violence, in our families, in our places of worship, in our communities and in our world."

Sister Mary Paulette Tirone died June 17, 2015, in Hamburg. She was 73 years old and a Franciscan Sister of St. Joseph for 53 years.

Bishop Richard J. Malone spoke of the importance of Pope Francis' message during a press conference held at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport Thursday. Members of the Diocesan Care for Creation Committee, a group formed in 2006 under Bishop Edward U. Kmiec to spread local awareness of environmental issues, and Franciscan brothers and sisters joined him.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In his newly released encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis did not hesitate to wade into controversial topics, making statements on global warming, pollution, species extinction and global inequality's impact on natural resources.

Bishop Richard J. Malone discussed the current status and future of several religious liberty issues on "EWTN Live" Wednesday night. Host Father Mitch Pacwa interviewed the bishop about gay marriage, human trafficking and the HHS mandate forcing religious institutions to provide health care coverage for contraception and abortion-inducing drugs, with Bishop Malone explaining that government intrusion is starting to prevent the Catholic Church from performing its ministries.

Bishop Richard J. Malone has announced new assignments for several clergy members including the newly ordained permanent deacons and priests.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Benedict XVI's summer is set to be the most active since he stepped down from the pontificate in 2013, with plans for participation in at least two public events and a two-week stay at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

The United States Bishops have expressed a need to educate new employees on Catholic hierarchy and the basic functions of the Church. To meet that need, the Catholic Press Association will launch "Fundamentals of the Catholic Church," a training program to teach the ins and outs of the Catholic Church.

Whenever I come across a discouraging report on the state of religious belief and commitment, it forces me to ponder more deeply why my own Catholic faith is such a potent and enduring dimension of my existence. And why I believe that every person with a healthy, positive, mature and informed religious commitment is (potentially, at least) more fully human, more fully alive, more inclined to compassion and service to others.

Without school to keep the kids occupied, there's a great temptation to vegetate in front of the television all day. Here are 10 tips to get your kids out of the house and away from the television and create tech-free experiences.

A first-grader at Notre Dame Academy in Buffalo recently spearheaded a collection to provide entertainment for and put smiles on faces of children undergoing treatment at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Grace Mallaber organized a collection of 20 boxes of art supplies to be donated to the hospital's pediatric wing.

As the battle for the Parental Choice in Education Act wages on, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey of Queens has sponsored a bill that would reopen child sexual abuse cases to lawsuits years after the abuse. Currently, the state permits the accuser to file suit up to five years after his or her 18th birthday.

For permanent deacons of the diocese, ministry can take on many diverse forms. The ministry of Deacon Miguel Santos has involved working with the diocesan Office of Cultural Diversity to help immigrants, particularly refugees on Buffalo's West Side, adapt to new life in the United States. He assists a wide variety of people as part of his diaconate service.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - One of the most challenging scientific questions Pope Francis faces in his new encyclical on creation is that of climate change, which a source close to the document says the Pope addresses in a balanced perspective without taking sides.

ST. LOUIS, MO. (CNA/EWTN News) - Alice Heinzen was with her dad and siblings on a ski trip when she froze on top of what looked like a treacherous mountain path. Her dad was waiting at the bottom, and so were her other siblings - who had all fallen down along the way.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In an address on Sunday, Pope Francis asked parents if they believed in the beauty of the love God gives to a man and a woman, and told them to make sure their children see this love in little signs of affection.

Sister Madeleine Martel died June 12, 2015, in the health care center of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany, shortly after celebrating her 83rd birthday.

Chancery bulletin announcements for the week of June 15, 2015

There is far more history in Buffalo than what people can find in books or on the Internet. Velma Holt knows a dark time that most annals would gloss over in favor of a more presentable past.

Even in an institution with 2,000 years of tradition, things can move pretty fast. To keep up with the frequent changes in parish staff or Mass times in the Diocese of Buffalo, the diocesan Office of Communications offers an online Directory of all things Catholic.

Part of their mission statement reads, "We are God's people, at work in the world, motivated by love and caring for the people of God who need our help." Who are "they," you ask? Little Portion Friary, located on Main Street in Buffalo.

ST. LOUIS - The U.S. bishops, gathered for their annual Spring General Assembly, voted on and approved a draft of their priorities for the 2017-2020 strategic plan and the "Program of Priestly Formation, 5th edition." They also voted on English translations of the Old and New Testament Canticles.

Bishop Richard J. Malone talks about devotions and litanies in this new episode of "Consider This," while sharing a few invocations for the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

It's contraception's 50th anniversary - on June 7, 1965, the Supreme Court ruled in the Griswold v. Connecticut case that contraception was legal.

ST. LOUIS (CNA/EWTN News) - Bring your mitre and your bowling ball if you plan on coming to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families this fall, Archbishop Charles Chaput told 250 of his brother bishops June 10 at their General Assembly in St. Louis.