The students and staff at the Academy of St. Benedict the African kicked off Catholic Schools Week Jan. 30 with a visit from Cardinal Cupich; Greg Richmond, the superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago; and Josh Hale, president and CEO of the Big Shoulders Fund. The whole student body participated in a prayer service in the gym to welcome their guests, who then proceeded to a new prayer room with 18 student leaders from grades three through eight. Cardinal Cupich led the students in rounds of applause to thank donors to programs such as Big Shoulders, which supports Catholic schools; school faculty and staff; their parents; legislative leaders; and the people of Chicago, noting that Monday of Catholic Schools Week is the day set aside to celebrate the community. “The people of Chicago are rooting for you to be successful,” the cardinal said, before asking the students to stand up and wave to the cameras from local news channels. The cardinal asked the students to thank legislators for extending the tax credit scholarship program in 2021. The program, in which donors can get state income tax credits when they donate to organizations that provide scholarships to students at private kindergarten through 12th-grade schools, has allowed many families who otherwise would not be able to afford tuition to choose Catholic schools. Many students at the Academy of St. Benedict the African, 6020 S. Laflin Ave., receive tax-credit scholarships, and the school’s enrollment has grown from a high of 221 in the 2021-2022 school year to 254 now, according to Principal Jennifer Farrand. Richmond reminded the students that their gathering included more than classmates and teachers and invited guests. “It is a sincere pleasure to be here with you,” Richmond said, noting that another way to say he was with the students was to say that he was “present.” “We are all present with each other this morning. When I think of that word, ‘present,’ I remember someone else who is present with us this morning, and that’s God. When we are with each other, we are present to each other, and God is present with us.” Cardinal Cupich continued the theme of God’s presence when he prayed with students in the new prayer room before blessing it. After student Tyler Wafford read a passage from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the cardinal told the students that Paul was reminding his readers that God lives in all of them. “While we have special buildings and places like this where we know God is present, God is present in all of us,” he said. “God dwells in every one of us. When we leave here, we should remember that God is in us, and remember that God is in all of your classmates and all of your teachers, too.” The new room, which has a small altar, chairs and sacred images on the walls, will offer a place for teachers to pray together, said Deacon Leroy Gill, the Academy of St. Benedict the African’s campus minister. Small groups of students or individual classes can also use the room for prayer.
St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero to remain open St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero received welcome news March 6 when the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that the school, which was slated to close in June, would remain open.
Marian’s Sister Mary Jo using newfound fame to talk about God Before she was a sister, Sister Mary Jo Sobieck was an athlete. Sister Mary Jo, 50, started playing softball, basketball and volleyball in elementary school, and she was a three-sport athlete all through high school and her first two years of college. She dropped basketball for her final two years, but stuck with softball and volleyball.
Loss of state Invest in Kids scholarship program forces closure of two Catholic Schools The pastors of St. Frances of Rome School in Cicero and St. Odilo School in Berwyn announced Jan. 18 that both schools will close in June of this year, bringing an end to a combined total of 196 years of Catholic education at their locations.