Did you know that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a Secretariat of Cultural Diversity? Allan Figueroa Deck, S.J., Executive Director, suggests that we take steps to build greater unity in diversity by celebration, prayer and worship, interaction, information, story-telling, and inspirational moments. A visit to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School reveals just such activities!
It was my privilege to attend the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Convention in Minneapolis this past April. Over 8,000 educators gathered from across the country and beyond and it was truly a macrocosm of diversity at every level. One of the highlights of the conference was the announcement that Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta, is the new chairman of the board of the NCEA. The NCEA guides US Catholic Schools in establishing and maintaining excellence in all areas.
Archbishop Gregory was born and raised in Chicago where his parents sent him to St. Carthage Grammar School, and where, as a sixth grader, Wilton converted to Catholicism. Archbishop Gregory of Atlanta weighed in on the issues of unity and diversity during his homily May 7, 2010, at a Mass for the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
“Our efforts at national unity often depend upon bringing peoples’ diversity into something of an artificial harmony that seeks to minimize the uniqueness and distinctiveness of people. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, focuses upon what we all share in common which is our faith and our oneness in Christ,” Archbishop Gregory said. To be a Catholic one need not abandon one’s individuality. In fact, the Catholic Church is most perfectly herself when all of her children display that rich diversity that God has fashioned into the very heart of humanity,” the archbishop said. “We are most Catholic when we reflect our oneness of faith and worship that is achieved in response to our rich mixture of human variety through the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
Our school is “proudly diverse” and we make every effort to draw upon the richness of each child’s background, celebrating race, color and creed.
By: Principal Sister Catherine Noecker, OSF
