On November 9th, just prior to the Bishops General Assembly, the Committee on Catholic Education in cooperation with the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church hosted a workshop entitled "Catholic Education and Underserved Populations."  With the expertise of Fr. Ron Nuzzi from ACE ARISE of the University of Notre Dame,  CARA International,  and Dr. John Convey of the Catholic University of America, 60 bishops participated in an engaging presentation and discussion about the importance of Catholic education and outreach to underserved populations. Fr. Joe Corpora, CSC from ACE Catholic School Advantage Campaign of the University of Notre Dame led the presentation and discussion regarding underserved and Latino children in our schools.  Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, O.P., Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago and  Annette Parsons, Chief Education Administrator for the Diocese of Richmond spoke about the importance of outreach to underserved communities while Mike Scherschligt, Director of the Holy Family School of Faith, addressed the critical need of formation of leaders and teachers as disciples and witnesses to the faith. The response of the bishops present was encouraging and energizing.      
 

On November 10th Archbishop George Lucas, Chairman of the Committee on Catholic Education, and Bishop Daniel Flores, Chairman of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, gave a joint presentation to the Body of Bishops about Catholic schools and underserved populations. The PowerPoint and script of the presentation can be accessed on the USCCB Catholic Education Tool Kit page. Again, the response of the bishops was very positive. The encouragement of so many bishops for Catholic schools was a sign of great hope.   

 

Lastly, a discussion about Catholic schools was part of the Bishop's Regional Meetings which took place at the end of the General Assembly.  The Bishops were asked to discuss and give feedback on questions generated by the Secretariat on Catholic Education Catholic during the regional meeting.  The information from these discussions will help inform the work of the Committee on Catholic Education and the Secretariat for Catholic Education at the USCCB for several years.