LAFLIN –– The Congregation of the Oblates of Saint Joseph will host their 41st Annual Labor Day Weekend Triduum and Labor Day Mass in honor of Saint Joseph the Worker during the upcoming holiday weekend, Sept. 1-4, at the Oblates chapel, located at 1880 Route 315 in Laflin.

Masses during the Triduum –– Friday, Sept. 1, through Sunday, Sept. 3 –– will be celebrated at noon and 7 p.m., followed by devotional prayers to Saint Joseph as the patron saint of laborers. A blessing with the first-class relic of Saint Joseph Marello, founder of the Oblates of Saint Joseph, will conclude the devotions.

Guest celebrant and preacher for this year’s Labor Day Triduum will be Saint Joseph Oblate Father Gustavo Lopez, who ministers with the Oblates’ USA Province as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Bakersfield, Calif. A California native and ordained to the priesthood in 2009, Father Gustavo also serves in deliverance/exorcism ministry and as prison chaplain for the Diocese of Fresno.

The Triduum will conclude with a special Labor Day Mass honoring Saint Joseph the Worker on Monday, Sept. 4, at 11 a.m., concelebrated by OSJ priests serving in the Diocese of Scranton.

At the conclusion of the Mass, bread will be blessed and distributed to the faithful as a symbol of the “fruit of our labor.”

Masses celebrated during the Triduum and on Labor Day morning will be broadcast live on JMJ Catholic Radio 104.5 FM.

All are welcome to attend the devotions. For more information, contact the Oblates’ main office at (570) 654-7542, or by email: osjseminary@comcast.net.

DEDHAM, Mass. (OSV News) – The Massachusetts sex abuse case against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick fell apart Wednesday as all criminal charges were dismissed due to the disgraced former cleric being deemed no longer mentally competent.

Dedham District Court Judge Michael Pomarole ruled McCarrick is unable to stand trial after receiving a medical report from prosecutors which agreed with the earlier defense report that McCarrick, 93, is suffering from dementia.

Former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick arrives at Dedham District Court in Dedham, Mass., Sept. 3, 2021, after being charged with molesting a 16-year-old boy during a 1974 wedding reception. A Massachusetts judge dismissed a criminal case against the former cardinal Aug. 30, 2023, ruling he no longer has the cognitive capacity to stand trial. (OSV News photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)

“The Commonwealth’s independent evaluator concurred that he is not competent,” said David Traub, spokesman for Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

Traub said the state moved to drop all charges after Pomarole’s ruling.

The substance of the reports on McCarrick’s mental capacities were not made public.

McCarrick’s lawyers, Barry Coburn and Daniel Marx, first raised the competency issue in February when they filed a motion to have the charges dismissed based on a report from a medical expert they hired. The defense attorneys claimed McCarrick suffers from advancing and irreversible dementia.

“While he has a limited understanding of the criminal proceedings against him, his progressive and irreparable cognitive deficits render him unable to meaningfully consult with his counsel or to effectively assist in his own defense,” Coburn and Marx wrote at the time.

McCarrick was charged in Dedham District Court in 2021 for allegedly assaulting a teen boy 50 years ago. He is one of the highest ranking Catholic prelates to be charged for sexual abuse since the church’s abuse scandal first broke out into the open in Boston in 2002.

Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer who represented many of the original sex abuse victims in Boston and the attorney for McCarrick’s alleged victim, said the judge’s Aug. 30 ruling does not change what McCarrick did to his victims.

“In spite of the criminal court’s decision today, many clergy sexual abuse victims feel as though former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is and will always be the permanent personification of evil within the Catholic Church,” Garabedian said.

McCarrick was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14. Each count carried a potential five-year prison sentence.

According to court records, McCarrick was close to the victim’s family, celebrating Mass at their home and even going on trips with them. The victim told investigators that McCarrick abused him during trips out of state. It was also under the guise of providing spiritual direction to the victim that the alleged abuse took place, according to the criminal complaint.

One incident allegedly took place in the 1970s at the wedding reception for the victim’s brother, which was held on Massachusetts’ Wellesley College campus. According to the criminal complaint, McCarrick is alleged to have gotten the victim, 16 at this time, to go outside with him to talk about the victim not attending Mass, and then fondled the victim.

The pair went back to the reception and McCarrick allegedly told the victim he had to go to confession, using a closet for privacy. Then, using the sacrament of reconciliation as a cover, McCarrick allegedly continued to abuse the boy, according to the complaint, giving him three Our Fathers and a Hail Mary as penance.

Once one of the most powerful men in the Catholic Church, McCarrick was accused in 2018 of decades of sexual abuse, including allegedly targeting young men in seminaries. He was found guilty of abuse in 2019 by the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith and removed from the clerical state by Pope Francis.

McCarrick is facing criminal prosecution for sexual abuse alleged to have taken place in 1977 in Wisconsin, although it is now likely his attorneys will move to have that case dismissed on similar grounds. Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld, who is overseeing McCarrick’s prosecution, was not immediately available for comment.

(OSV News) – As they open their doors for a new academic year, the nation’s Catholic schools are enjoying overall strong growth, along with a firm commitment to mission, experts told OSV News.

“Our school system has grown two years in a row,” said Lincoln Snyder, president and CEO of the National Catholic Educational Association.

Students at Saint Jude School in Mountain Top participate in daily prayer.

Based in Leesburg, Virginia, the NCEA, an organization which traces its origins to a 1904 conference held in St. Louis, represents close to 140,000 Catholic educators serving 1.6 million students.

Snyder told OSV News that Catholic schools in the U.S. on balance experienced a bump in enrollment amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 3.8% growth from 2021-2022 and 0.3% growth during the 2022-2023 year.

In addition, “most retention rates are pretty high,” said Snyder. “Dioceses last year retained 93% to 98% of students who came (during) COVID.”

The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, for example, has seen a three-year rise in enrollment, with the overall student population – now at 18,400 in 41 diocesan schools – up 10% since the 2020-2021 academic year.

Snyder attributed such sustained growth to factors that transcended the pandemic.

“By all indications, families who came to Catholic schools were very happy with the community and they established relationships” with the schools, he said. “Once people have children in a positive environment, they tend not to change it.”

At the same time, some Catholic schools saw an uptick in numbers due to straightforward demographic shifts, he said.

While declines “tended to be in the Northeast and the Midwest … most of our growth was seen in southeastern Florida, and some in the (U.S.) Southwest,” said Snyder.

“We’ve recovered from the pandemic and then some,” said Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic schools and secretary of education for the Archdiocese of Miami. “We have the highest enrollment in eight years, up about 3.6% year over year.”

One formerly closed school – St. Malachy in Tamarac, Florida – has even reopened for the 2023-2024 academic year after a 14-year hiatus, he said.

Rigg cited an influx of new Florida residents as one factor in enrollment surges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida is the nation’s third most populous state, as well as the fastest-growing one.

“Substantial numbers of people move here from the northern U.S., and we have continuous waves of immigration from Latin America and the Caribbean, the majority of whom identify as Catholic,” he told OSV News.

Christopher Pastura, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, agreed. He said Florida’s “robust school choice programs” also have worked to fill classrooms.

“Florida has moved to a 100% choice scholarship program, so everybody has access to that regardless of income,” Pastura told OSV News. “It’s helped our low- and middle-income folks be able to afford a Catholic school education.”

Making Catholic education accessible to students with disabilities also is key, said Andrew McLaughlin, secretary for elementary education at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“We are really pushing for full inclusion for children with disabilities, rather than have separate schools for them,” said McLaughlin, whose schools have seen strong growth and — in contrast to national trends — little learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by standardized testing.

“Ensuring every school can support students with identified special needs is a vital part of our Catholic mission, to serve all who wish to come to our schools,” said Rigg.

Along with expanding access, school administrators with whom OSV News spoke are focused on addressing both mental health and school security concerns.

While their students are not immune from national increases in mental health challenges — a trend highlighted by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in a 2021 advisory — Catholic schools, equipped with psychological and spiritual resources, can provide a strongly supportive environment for students and families navigating such issues.

“Often we hear families say, ‘Thank God this happened in a Catholic school, because there is a community of care,'” said Rigg. “(The) community will rally around a family in crisis.”

School security also is a priority for Rigg, given the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17.

“That weighs heavily on the psyche of everyone in South Florida,” said Rigg, whose safety investments include on-site police officers, cameras and enhanced standards for ensuring campus doors are locked appropriately.

But the biggest draw at many schools is the fundamental nature of Catholic education itself, said experts.

“When you create the type of Catholic culture that people want to be part of, you don’t have to worry about enrollment,” said Kevin Ferdinandt, headmaster of St. Agnes School in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The preK-12 school draws students from dozens of area ZIP codes, drawing from “a really broad area” and functioning “a lot like a regional school,” he told OSV News.

Admitting that St. Agnes had “almost closed in 2007” due to financial struggles, Ferdinandt said the school revisited its roots — and bore fruit as a result.

“We’ve got a very clear mission, and we serve Catholic families that are really serious about engaging their kids in education, and making sure their kids get a chance to learn what we as Catholics really believe,” he said. “If we’re going to call ourselves a Catholic school and not be serious about teaching the faith … then we’re just private schools with a religion department. We worked hard for a lot of years to establish an extraordinary student and faculty culture (of Catholic education), and with that came the success of our school.”

“Our first role as Catholic schools is forming disciples,” said Snyder. “We are a ministry of the church, and we want to form children who love Jesus Christ.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis asked a group of Italian journalists to shun fake news and a love of scandal, including when covering the Catholic Church and the upcoming assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

This is the official logo for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Originally scheduled for 2022, the synod will take place in October 2023 to allow for broader consultation at the diocesan, national and regional levels. (CNS photo/courtesy Synod of Bishops)

“Help me to narrate this process for what it really is, leaving behind the logic of slogans and pre-packaged stories,” he asked the group Aug. 26 as he accepted the “È Giornalismo” prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to journalism.

Pope Francis told the group he realizes how “speaking of a ‘synod on synodality’ may seem something abstruse, self-referential, excessively technical, of little interest to the general public,” but the whole process, which began in 2021 with listening sessions on the local, national and regional levels “is something truly important for the church.”

At a moment in history “when there is much talk and little listening, and when the sense of the common good is in danger of weakening,” he said, “the church as a whole has embarked on a journey to rediscover the word ‘together.'”

All the baptized must “walk together, question together, take responsibility together for communal discernment, which for us is prayer, as it was for the first apostles: this is synodality,” the pope told the group.

The synod assembly Oct. 4-29 at the Vatican, he said, will bring together bishops, priests, religious and laypeople from around the world with the purpose of “listening together, discerning together, praying together.”

With so much of the world experiencing a “culture of exclusion,” the pope said, the church can model a better way, one in which everyone finds a welcome and no one echoes the prayer of the Pharisee in Luke’s Gospel who says, “I thank you, Lord, because I am not like this, I am not like that” rather than thanking God for his gifts.

Pope Francis explained to the group that St. Paul VI reinstituted the Synod of Bishops at the end of the Second Vatican Council “because he realized that in the Western church synodality had disappeared, whereas in the Eastern church they still have this dimension.”

“Please, let us get used to listening to each other, to talking, not cutting someone’s head off over a word,” but rather learning “to listen, to discuss in a mature way.”

“This is a grace we all need in order to move forward. And it is something the church today offers the world, a world so often so incapable of making decisions, even when our very survival is at stake,” Pope Francis said.

The Catholic Church, he said, is “trying to learn a new way of living relationships, listening to one another in order to hear and follow the voice of the Spirit.”

“We have opened our doors, we have offered everyone the opportunity to participate, we have taken into account everyone’s needs and suggestions,” he said. “We want to contribute together to building a church where everyone feels at home, where no one is excluded.”

The church is for everyone, he said. “There are no first-, second- or third-class Catholics, no. All together. Everyone. It is the Lord’s invitation.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In the eyes of the world it would appear “absurd” to begin helping the poor and struggling for justice by spending time in adoration before the Eucharist, Pope Francis said, but that is precisely what an Italy-based religious order has been doing for 100 years.

Pope Francis greets members of the Sister Disciples of Jesus in the Eucharist at the end of a meeting in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Aug. 25, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

“In the face of immense needs and with almost no resources at their disposal, what sense did it have to tell the sisters to get on their knees in adoration and reparation,” the pope said Aug. 25 as he joined a celebration of the centenary of the Sister Disciples of Jesus in the Eucharist.

But the practice worked, Pope Francis told the sisters and their collaborators at the meeting in the Vatican audience hall.

The prayers and adoration of the early members of the congregation “generated a contagious force, which soon led them to undertake and promote works of material, cultural and spiritual redemption far exceeding all expectations,” he said.


August 29, 2023

His Excellency, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, announces the following appointments, effective as follows:

Reverend Andrew Amankwaa, from Parochial Vicar, Most Holy Trinity Parish, Susquehanna and Saint Brigid Parish, Friendsville, to Administrator Pro Tem, Most Holy Trinity Parish, Susquehanna and Saint Brigid Parish, Friendsville, effective August 29, 2023.

Reverend Stephen Brenyah, from ministry in the Diocese of Sunyani, Ghana, to Parochial Vicar, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish and Saint Anthony and Saint Rocco Parish, Dunmore, effective September 7, 2023.

Reverend Mark J. DeCelles, from Parochial Vicar, Saint Therese Parish, Shavertown, and Saint Frances X. Cabrini Parish, Carverton, to Parochial Vicar, Saint John Neumann Parish and Saint Paul of the Cross Parish, Scranton, effective September 7, 2023.  Father will continue to serve as Associate Director of the Permanent Diaconate.

Reverend Shawn M. Simchock, from Parochial Vicar, Saint Ignatius of Loyola Parish, Kingston, and Holy Family Parish, Luzerne, to Administrator Pro Tem, Saint Ann Parish, Williamsport, effective September 7, 2023.

Reverend Paul Yeboah, from ministry in the Diocese of Sunyani, Ghana, to Parochial Vicar, Saint Ignatius of Loyola Parish, Kingston, and Holy Family Parish, Luzerne, effective September 7, 2023.

DEACON 

Deacon Paul Jennings, to Diaconal Ministry, Saint Lucy Parish, Scranton, effective September 6, 2023.  Deacon Jennings will continue to serve in Diaconal Ministry at Saint Patrick Parish, Scranton.

HARRISBURG – Shortly after the budget was signed last week, the Shapiro Administration announced it would end Pennsylvania’s 30-year contractual relationship with Real Alternatives, an award-winning Pennsylvania Pregnancy and Parenting Support Services Program. Presently, 83 centers throughout the Commonwealth provide compassionate support services to 13,500 women a year, from the moment they find out they are pregnant through 12 months after the birth of the baby. 

Approximately 60% of the women who come to Real Alternatives considering abortion choose to bring their baby to term.  Also, 84% of women that have been pressured to abort choose to bring their baby to term. Terminating this program will result in an increase in abortions throughout the Commonwealth.

Even though the Shapiro Administration ended the Real Alternatives contract, the legislature must still pass “code bills” which will decide where to spend approximately $1 billion dollars. Those code bills could pass the Senate as early as next week. 

You are asked to contact Senate leadership today and stress that funding for Real Alternatives and the families they serve must be restored. Below are the names and emails of PA Senate Republican leaders and a sample message you can send. 

 

President Pro Tempore Kim Ward

kward@pasen.gov

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman

jpittman@pasen.gov

Senate Majority Appropriations Chairman Scott Martin

smartin@pasen.gov

You can also contact Governor Josh Shapiro’s Office at the following website:

governor.pa.gov/contact

 

SAMPLE EMAIL TO SEND

(You can also add any wording you would like)

In conjunction with the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, I ask that you do whatever you can to help restore full funding to Real Alternatives.

This critical program has served close to 350,000 women through 1.9 million office visits over the past 30 years in Pennsylvania. As a social service program, Real Alternatives DOES NOT – and was never intended to –  provide medical services. Their hundreds of counselors throughout the state instead REFER clients to health services. 

In fact, based on calculations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program last year benefitted the Commonwealth with $140 million in health cost savings. That was because their clients’ children’s immunizations were up to date. Additionally, $247 million in health costs were saved because their clients received proper prenatal care.

Full funding for this critical program must be maintained. 

Thank you for your help.

 

 

 

SCRANTON – As the Hawaii island of Maui begins to recover from the devastation caused by the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century, Bishop Bambera has invited parishes in the Diocese of Scranton to take up an emergency special collection to address the immediate needs of the affected communities while also planning for long-term recovery efforts. 

A charred boat lies in the scorched waterfront Aug. 9, 2023, after wildfires fanned by the winds of a distant hurricane devastated Lahaina, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. (OSV News photo/Mason Jarvi, handout via Reuters)

The bishop is allowing each pastor to choose an upcoming weekend that works best for parishioners, but has suggested either the weekend of Sept. 2/3 (Labor Day weekend) or Sept. 9/10.

Funds from the emergency collection will be transmitted to the USCCB’s Emergency Disaster Fund and will go directly to help the people of Maui rebuild.

Bishop Bambera shared the words of Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva, who recently said to the Catholic faithful in Hawaii and beyond, “As a community of faith, we are called to come together and provide unwavering support to those who are suffering. It is in times like these that our collective love, faith, and compassion can make a tremendous difference.”

The Boston Archdiocese, the Los Angeles Archdiocese and the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, are among other U.S. dioceses holding special collections at weekend Masses through August and into early September.

A burned car is seen at the Ho’onanea condominium complex, in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, Aug. 10, 2023. Lahaina’s Maria Lanakila Catholic Church was spared from the flames that wiped out most of the surrounding community on the island of Maui, Aug. 8 and 9. (OSV News photo/Jorge Garcia, Reuters)

As of Aug. 22, the Honolulu Star Advertiser confirmed the death toll in Maui had reached at least 115 “as authorities continue working to identify the remains of those killed in Lahaina.”

The Associated Press has reported that the tally of those still unaccounted for varies “widely.” “Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Sunday (Aug. 20) that more than 1,000 remained unaccounted for. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a pre-recorded video on Instagram that the number was 850. And during President Joe Biden’s tour of the devastation (Aug. 21), White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall put it between 500 and 800.”

In his remarks in Lahaina, Biden told the people of Maui, “You’ve shown such absolute, incredible courage, and that’s not hyperbole. I want you to know, on behalf of the United States of America and all the nation, the American people stand with you.”

“From stories of grief, we’ve seen so many stories of hope and heroism, of the aloha spirit. Every emergency responder put their lives on the line for — to save others. Everyday heroes, neighbors helping neighbors, Native Hawaiian leaders offering solace and strength,” he added.

After his remarks, he spent about two hours meeting face-to-face with attendees, according to news reports. The Bidens had paused their summer vacation at Lake Tahoe in Nevada to visit Maui for about six hours.

Biden was criticized by some Maui residents who stood with signs on the motorcade route he took to tour the devastation telling him to go home and demanding more federal disaster relief.

WILKES-BARRE – Faculty, administrators, students and Catholic school families are fondly remembering Mrs. Doreen Dougherty, the principal of Holy Redeemer High School, who passed away on Aug. 20, 2023.

“On behalf of the Diocese of Scranton Catholic School System, I wish to extend my sincerest condolences to Dougherty family and to all members of our Holy Redeemer School Family,” Kristen Donohue, Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education/Superintendent of Schools, said in a release sent to school families. ” Doreen had a lasting, positive impact on our Catholic schools and on all who knew her. I ask you to join me in praying for the Dougherty family and friends to find peace and strength during this time of incredible sadness.”

Dougherty, 54, of Shavertown, became principal of Holy Redeemer High School in 2019. She had also served as principal of All Saints Academy in Scranton.

Due to the passing of Mrs. Dougherty, the start of the Holy Redeemer High School academic year is being postponed by one week. 

The first day of school for freshmen will now be Tuesday, Sept. 5. The first full day of school for all students will now be Wednesday, Sept. 6. 

“We are all navigating this tumultuous time in different ways, but together, in God’s grace, we will move forward as one Royal community,” Holy Redeemer Vice Principal Cody Opalka said.

Funeral arrangements are as follows:

Viewing: Thursday, August 24, 2023

4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Holy Redeemer High School Auditorium

159 S. Pennsylvania Blvd.

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

Funeral: Friday, August 25, 2023

Second Viewing: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Funeral Mass at 10:00 a.m.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish

116 Hughes Street

Swoyersville, PA 18704

 

Full Obituary for Mrs. Doreen Dougherty

Doreen Suzanne Dougherty, 54, of Shavertown, passed away peacefully Sunday morning, Aug. 20, 2023, at home, surrounded by her loving family.

Born April 15, 1969, in Kingston, Doreen was the daughter of Joseph Lipinski and Elaine Repak Lipinski. She was the valedictorian of Bishop O’Reilly High School, Class of 1987. Doreen continued her education at Marywood College and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with a minor in marketing. After graduating, Doreen held multiple positions at WBRE, including programming director.

Following her motto, “Ohana,” meaning “family,” Doreen decided to leave her career to take on her biggest and most fulfilling role: raising her beautiful children. Being heavily involved as a volunteer at her children’s school led her to discover her passion for education. Doreen worked as an instructional aide at Regis Elementary and then Good Shepherd Academy while attending King’s College to earn her teaching certifications. She was later placed at All Saints Academy and continued to develop their Individualized Instruction Program, which always held a special place in her heart.

Always wanting to advance her career in education, Doreen returned to Marywood for her Master of Science degree in school leadership. Her unwavering dedication to Catholic education drove her to become the building principal of All Saints Academy. In the fall of 2019, Doreen was proud to be named the principal of Holy Redeemer High School. Both All Saints Academy and Holy Redeemer High School served as her second homes.

Doreen’s Catholic identity was evident to everyone she met. She was an active member of Holy Trinity Parish, Swoyersville, now consolidated into St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. During her youth, she was a church organist and a member of the choir. Doreen became a member of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers and enjoyed attending their Christmas parties and Mother’s Day Teas with her mom, gramma and family. Also, she loved volunteering her time to the church bazaar each summer by running the theme basket stand.

Anyone who knew Doreen, knows family was everything to her. Doreen’s true love is her husband, Robert, with whom she would have celebrated 30 wonderful years of marriage in October. Together they built a beautiful family with four children. Her daughter, Shaina, was her best friend, shopping partner and biggest fan. Doreen inspired Shaina to work in the field of education and to also become a principal. Her sons, Robert and Devin emanate her compassionate nature as they both enter health care professions, ensuring their patients feel the same care and support Doreen radiated. Collin embodies Doreen’s infectious smile and her creative nature. She was proud of his pursuit toward a career in architecture and Collin currently attends Marywood University, like his mother.

Doreen never met a challenge she couldn’t overcome, and her competitiveness shone through in all that she did. She was an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers and enjoyed football Sundays and pizza nights at her parents’ house. Doreen relished in rousing games of Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Taboo, Parcheesi and more. She didn’t shy away from scaling a rock climbing wall at All Saints Academy or playing dodgeball with the girls’ basketball team at Holy Redeemer. As a former cheerleader, Doreen knew well how to motivate others, tirelessly supporting both her family and school communities academically and athletically. Doreen loved cheering on her All Saints Academy Knights and Holy Redeemer Royals, whether it was a sporting event, musical, award ceremony or talent show. She was driven to ensure every student can reach his or her fullest potential, just as if they were her own children.

She proudly shared a birthday with her father. She looked forward to yearly family vacations at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, where she could be seen reading quietly near the water, collecting shells on the shore, playing soccer tennis on the beach or playing volleyball in the pool with all of her children, nieces and nephews. Doreen loved Christmas and considered it “the most wonderful time of the year.” She filled the Christmas season with many wonderful traditions including baking, decorating the tree, bayberry candles, matching pajamas and making Christmas day dinner for all of her family. She looked forward to curling up on the couch with her puppy, Bandit, to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie with a bowl of popcorn.

Doreen was preceded in death by her grandparents, Michael and Margaret Repak; and Joseph and Eleanor Lipinski; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Joseph and Theresa Dougherty.

Left to cherish Doreen’s memory are her husband, Robert, Shavertown; daughter, Shaina Aquilina and her husband, John Patrick, Swoyersville; sons, Robert Dougherty and his wife, Alexis, Drums; Devin Dougherty and Collin Dougherty, both of Shavertown; her parents, Joseph and Elaine Lipinski, Swoyersville; sister, Leane DelBalso and her husband, Pat, and their three children, Patrick, Jillian and Brandon, all of Plains Twp.; brother, Joseph and his wife, Janicemarie and their three children, Joey, Nicholas and Hazel, Swoyersville; uncle, Michael Repak and his wife, Ann Marie, Larksville; Joseph Dougherty and his wife, Kathy, Dublin, Ohio, and their children, Meghan, Joseph and Kyle; John Dougherty and his wife, Kathleen, Kingston, and their children, Kylene, Brianne and John Anthony; Dennis Dougherty, Lake Ariel, and his children, Connor, Dana, and Ian; and Kevin Dougherty, Edwardsville.

Along with numerous great-nieces and great-nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends, Doreen’s constant companion and loyal cuddle buddy, Bandit, will miss her infectious smile and loving presence.

Doreen’s family would like to extend all of our love and heartfelt gratitude to the many doctors, nurses, hospital staff and home health nurses who lovingly cared for her.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend Doreen’s viewing which will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday in Holy Redeemer High School Auditorium, 159 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre.

Funeral services for Doreen will begin with an additional viewing from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Friday in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, 116 Hughes St., Swoyersville, followed by a con-celebrated Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. The Rev. Joseph J. Pisaneschi, her pastor, will be the main celebrant; Monsignor David L. Tressler will serve as homilist; and the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, will convey the Rite of Final Commendation.

Interment with the Rite of Committal will follow in St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Swoyersville.

Funeral arrangements for the Dougherty family have been entrusted to the care of Wroblewski Funeral Home Inc., 1442 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort.

To share a message of condolence with Doreen’s family, you may visit the funeral home’s website, www.wroblewskifuneralhome.com, or Facebook page.

In lieu of flowers, Doreen’s family asks that you consider making a donation which will be used toward a memorial scholarship fund in her honor. Donations can be made by visiting https://www.luzfdn.org/types-of-funds/ and clicking on the Doreen S. Dougherty Memorial Scholarship Fund or mail your donation to: The Doreen S. Dougherty Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o The Luzerne Foundation, 34 S. River St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Acknowledging Ukraine’s celebration of Independence Day Aug. 24, Pope Francis pleaded with thousands of visitors at his weekly general audience to keep praying for peace in the country.

Noting that Aug. 24 also is the feast of St. Bartholomew, the apostle, the pope entrusted to him “dear Ukraine, so harshly tried by the war.”

A Ukrainian flag waves in the crowd gathered as Pope Francis recites the rosary with young people who are ill at the Chapel of Apparitions at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal, Aug. 5, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

But then departing from his prepared text and looking directly at the crowd in the Vatican audience hall, he said: “Brothers and sisters, let’s pray for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who are suffering so much. The war is cruel. So many children disappeared, so many people dead.”

According to the Ukrainian government’s “Children of War” website, 503 children had been killed as of Aug. 23 and more than 19,500 children have been forcibly taken to Russia.

“Please,” the pope said, “pray. Do not forget tormented Ukraine.”

Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The country had declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

In his weekly video message, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, said that while Ukrainians “give thanks to the Lord God for the precious gift of freedom,” in the context of war “we are gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of freedom, of what it entails to be free individuals, and recognizing that in order to guarantee the right of existence for the Ukrainian people, it is essential to have our own state.”

“The main pillars for building this state include respect for human dignity and the preservation of freedom,” the archbishop said.

“Freedom is a spiritual category. Being free is not limited only to escaping oppression or foreign domination,” he said. “True freedom involves being free for something. We recognize that the highest form of freedom is manifested in love, in the act of sacrificing oneself for God and neighbor.”