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Cardinal Cupich blesses prayer room at Academy of St. Benedict the African

By Michelle Martin | Staff writer
Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Cardinal Cupich kicks off Catholic Schools Week at the Academy of St. Benedict the African

Cardinal Cupich kicked off Catholic Schools Week Jan. 30, 2023, with a visit to the Academy of St. Benedict the African. The annual observance of Catholic Schools Week began on Jan. 29 and concluded on Feb. 4. Since 1974, Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. The theme for Catholic Schools Week this year was "Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service." The week focuses on the value Catholic education provides to young people and its contributions to the church, communities and nation. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Students at the Academy of St. Benedict the African enter an assembly near a sign they created to welcome Cardinal Cupich on Jan. 30, 2023. The cardinal kicked off Catholic Schools Week by joining the students for their morning assembly and blessing their new prayer space. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
An Academy of St. Benedict the African student reads general intercessions Jan. 20, 2023, while Cardinal Cupich; Josh Hale, president and CEO of the Big Shoulders Fund; Greg Richmond, school superintendent for the Archdiocese of Chicago; and Deacon Leroy Gill pray. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Students at the Academy of St. Benedict of the African make hand gestures during a song on Jan. 30, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Cupich asks Academy of St. Benedict of the African students to thank their parents for sacrifices they make to send them to a Catholic school. The cardinal visited the school Jan. 30, 2023, to kick off Catholic Schools Week. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Academy of St. Benedict the African students sing during their morning assembly Jan. 30, 2023. Cardinal Cupich joined them that day to kick iff Catholic Schools Week. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Academy of St. Benedict the African students sing during their morning assembly Jan. 30, 2023. Cardinal Cupich joined them that day to kick iff Catholic Schools Week. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Cupich speaks Academy of St. Benedict the African students, faculty and staff during a Jan. 30, 2023, assembly to kick off Catholic Schools Week. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Students at the Academy of St. Benedict the African pray the Our Father during Cardinal Cupich's visit Jan. 30, 2023.(Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Cupich explains what the symbols on his stole mean to students at the Academy of St. Benedict the African before blessing the school's new prayer space Jan. 30, 2023.(Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Cupich prays before blessing a new prayer space at the Academgy of St. Benedict the African on Jan. 30, 2023.(Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
An Academy of St. Benedict the African student reads a Scripture passage before Cardinal Cupich blessed the school's new prayer space Jan. 30, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Cupich blesses the new prayer space and students at the Academy of St. Benedict the African on Jan. 30, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Students read prayers during the Jan. 30, 2023, service in which Cardinal Cupich blessed the new Academy of St. Benedict the African prayer space. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Cardinal Cupich accepts several gifts from students at the Academy of St. Benedict the African, including a cup, T-shirt and a school calendar with pictures of students who attend the school, on Jan. 30, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

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.

Topics:

  • catholic schools
  • catholic schools week

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