With what hope do we greet the thousands of young people in our Catholic schools. In a special way I express my gratitude to the pastors of the Archdiocese. Those lucky enough to have parochial schools in their parishes make an outstanding contribution to the Church's educational mission. All parishes in the Archdiocese are now participating in the support of Catholic school education, and I am most grateful to the pastors of parishes without schools who have taken a leadership role in providing financial assistance to Catholic schools. Sister Ann Dominic Roach, O.P. and her staff at the Archdiocesan school office not only provide a superb service to our Catholic schools, but they also provide a model of how effective a system-wide administration can be with a very small staff.
Catholic schools have a responsibility to provide an academically superior education.
We presume this. Being a Catholic school is not an excuse for being inferior. On the other hand, academic excellence is not enough. If Catholic identity is not clearly reflected in all that the school is and does, then that school has failed in the purpose of Catholic education. Nowhere is the gift of Catholic school education more evident than in the annual Catholic school Mass that I am privileged to celebrate at the Cathedral.