As the school year wrapped up, Catholic schools all over Cook and Lake counties participated in simultaneous services at 2 p.m. on May 26 to pray for a peaceful summer in a city where gun violence is rampant. The need for peace in the streets is especially felt at the Academy of St. Benedict the African, 6020 S. Laflin St., which is located in the city’s Englewood neighborhood.

Principal Patricia Murphy said she often has to call the police because of dangerous activity going on outside of the school. Just the day before the prayer service there was a shooting right outside her window in the early afternoon, she said.

The students live in fear of the violence, she said. “They do not get to go outside and play wherever they live.”

Chicago really needs prayer for peace, said Kenae Kennedy, a sixth-grader at the school.

“I have a baby sitter and we like playing outside but my mom barely lets us out now that there’s so much violence,” she told the Catholic New World.

As of June 7, 1,574 people had been shot in the city of Chicago in 2016, according the Chicago Tribune.

During the service at the Academy of St. Benedict the African, students formed a semi-circle on the school lawn and listened to a Scripture reading along with brief testimonies from fellow students about their dreams for the future. The school’s choir also led the group in song. Before concluding, students and staff prayed the Prayer of St. Francis.

St. Benedict staff also had some students write about their dreams on paper squares and then connected the squares into a large poster. Two students held up the poster during the service.

Some students wrote about wanting to become NBA stars or entrepreneurs. Others wrote about wanting peace.

“I have a dream that the violence will stop by the help of many, that there would be peace, that the people in our neighborhood will not have to be scared anymore,” a student named O.J. wrote.

Students in all Catholic schools were invited to color paper doves and write on them their hopes for peace during the summer months. The doves were displayed in schools.

Several times in recent years, peace advocate Deacon Leroy Gill from St. Dorothy Parish, 450 E. 78th St., has organized prayer services at beaches on the South Side where students from the area schools like Holy Angels, St. Sabina and the Academy of St. Benedict the African gathered to pray for a peaceful summer. This year was the first time all 229 Catholic schools and the archdiocese’s administrative centers were asked to participate.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools Jim Rigg attended the service in Englewood and said the goal of the event was not only prayer but witnessing.

“My hope is that others will watch us and be inspired by us. There’s something to be said about 79,000 students, about 7,500 educators coming together in an outward sign of peace,” he said.

The message is especially needed in neighborhoods like Englewood where violence is common.

“This is an area that’s desperate for peace. There are wonderful families in this area, there are children in this area,” Rigg said. “We want peace to reign here and throughout Chicago.”