Posted February 10, 2021

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia celebrated the national observance of Catholic Schools Week (CSW) from Sunday, Jan. 31 through Saturday, Feb. 6. Capping the themes for each day, the theme for the week was “Faith. Excellence. Service.”

Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez participated in his first CSW as archbishop of Philadelphia, joined by Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald, who oversees Catholic education in the archdiocese; Sister Maureen Lawrence McDermott, I.H.M., archdiocesan superintendent of secondary schools and chief academic officer; and Andrew McLaughlin, archdiocesan secretary for elementary education.

Each recorded a video message on one of the daily CSW themes. The messages were shared on the archbishop’s social media platforms as well as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Schools’ platforms each day.

Archbishop Pérez helped to kick off the week-long celebration with the first video message.

“Catholic education,” he said, “is a lifelong gift that seeks to shape our young men and women as servant leaders for the future based on the values of the Gospel. I want to give a special shout out to all of our students, parents, teachers, administrators, staff members and benefactors. You make our schools live and breathe each day as centers of excellence.”

Below are the themes, featured speaker and link for each video.

Sunday, Jan. 31: “Celebrating Your Parish”
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez

Monday, Feb. 1: “Celebrating Your Community”
Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald

Tuesday, Feb. 2: “Celebrating Your Students”
Andrew McLaughlin

Wednesday, Feb. 3: “Celebrating the Nation”
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez

Thursday, Feb. 4: “Celebrating Vocations”
Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald

Friday, Feb. 5: “Celebrating Faculty, Staff, and Volunteers”
Sister Maureen L. McDermott, I.H.M.

Saturday, Feb. 6: “Celebrating Families”
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez

In addition, the archbishop shared a Catholic Schools Week message to the faithful in Spanish, which was posted to the archdiocesan Office for Hispanic Catholics’ Facebook Page @ HispanosPhilly and also included on La Voz, the archdiocese’s Spanish language radio program.

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For more information about National Catholic Schools Week visit the website of the National Catholic Educational Association.