By Bishop Keith J. Chylinski • Posted September 24, 2026

Welcome back! As another school year begins across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, I am filled with gratitude, hope and enthusiasm. In our many elementary and secondary schools, our schools of special education, mission schools, and throughout the wider community of Catholic education, thousands of young people are once again being entrusted to us — not simply to be educated, but to be formed.

Countless dedicated administrators, faculty and staff stand ready to teach, to guide, and to help our students discover the most important life lessons.

In Catholic schools, we rightly pursue excellence in the classroom, but always in service of something greater: helping every young person entrusted to our care discover that he or she is a beloved child of God.

This school year begins at a remarkable moment in our national history. As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, the bishops of the United States have consecrated our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Here in Philadelphia, following the lead of Archbishop Pérez who consecrated our Archdiocese this past June, we are receiving an invitation in a particular way to do the same throughout our Catholic schools.

Through prayer, catechesis, sacred art, and other initiatives, we want the Sacred Heart to be more than just a simple devotion we observe. We want our young people to encounter the love, mercy, and nearness of Christ and to discover in His Sacred Heart a place of refuge when they are anxious, wounded, searching, or burdened.

At a time when our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has so consistently called the Church and the world to peace and unity, the Heart of Christ reminds us from where that peace and unity are ultimately found.

This call comes as we prepare to celebrate the 175th anniversary of our Catholic school system. In 1852, St. John Neumann organized a shared educational mission that would shape generations of students, families, clergy, religious, and lay faithful. Our task now is not simply to admire that inheritance, but to build upon it.

The Catholic Church in Philadelphia has a blessed and storied history of educating our youth, which continues up to this very day. In 2027 we will celebrate this legacy, with the hope that it will inspire us to embrace this sacred mission ever more fervently.

Throughout this anniversary year we will unveil new initiatives of prayer, formation, service and celebration intended to help us do so. One of the first will be our inaugural Brotherly Love Pilgrimage to Rome this December, where members of our Catholic educational community will have the privilege of attending the General Audience with Pope Leo XIV!

As the bells ring in the hallways, chapels, classrooms and practice fields filled again with students, may we all seek to direct our hearts toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The best way to honor the inheritance we have received is to allow Christ to renew us for our task still ahead.

May He give us new hearts for this new moment — hearts united in Him, grateful for those who came before us, and courageous enough to carry the great mission of Catholic education forward for generations yet to come.

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Auxiliary Bishop Keith J. Chylinski oversees Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.