TranslateSearch
New theme for CSW ∙ Bishop O’Connell’s message for CSW ∙ Msgr. Bacovin dies ∙ Diocesan happenings
-
January 26, 2024EMBARKING ON A NEW THREE-YEAR FOCUS, the National Catholic Education Association’s Catholic Schools Week will bring together its supporters and beneficiaries Jan. 28 – Feb. 3 to recognize the irreplaceable contributions a Catholic education provides to the Church, the community and the country.
Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community” is the CSW theme for 2024-2026, starting with its 50th annual national celebration this month. Schools and supporting parishes will mark the occasion with open houses, Masses and activities for students, faculty, families, parishioners and members of the wider community.
“I think it’s trying to bring Catholic schools together around a central theme that we’ve always known to be true,” said Dr. Vincent de Paul Schmidt, diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools. “It poses a true choice for parents of school children; our schools are different. This theme draws a clear line as to who and what we are.”
Read more about the new theme HERE.
BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE for Catholic Schools Week 2024.
When a child is baptized in the Catholic Church, his/her parents, supported by godparents, make promises to help their child grow in the Church’s faith. Parents are their “first teachers,” their “first preachers” of the faith and, as a result, the family home becomes the “first Catholic school” and a “domestic Church.”
Without their direct and active involvement in their child’s Catholic faith formation, however, faith doesn’t happen, it won’t happen. Some parents mistakenly suggest that their children will chose to believe —- or not —- on their own later in life. What a disservice! Simple things like teaching and “hearing” a child’s prayers, telling Bible stories, taking a child to Church, showing a child the difference between right and wrong, giving good example, treating people with respect and charity and so on, these are all part of Catholic parents’ primary responsibilities to their baptized Catholic children.
What if parents don’t exercise their faith responsibilities for whatever reason? What happens to the faith of their baptized child? The answer is simple: nothing. Bringing a child into the Catholic Church through Baptism without making him/her feel welcome, at home, familiar with the Church —- at least on a level appropriate to a child —- make him/her a stranger to and within the community that is home to the Catholic faith.
Thank God for Catholic schools! (Thank God, also, for Catholic religious education programs in our parishes!) Although nothing can substitute for parents’ active witness to the faith in the Catholic home, Catholic schools should be an extension of the Catholic home and faith, building on its foundation or, more often than ever before, becoming a first foundation where it does not yet exist.
Read the full message HERE.
MSGR. RONALD J. BACOVIN, WHO SERVED AS A PRIEST OF THE DIOCESE FOR 57 YEARS, DIED JAN. 25 after a brief illness. He was 83.
Msgr. Bacovin had been a pastor in a number of parishes in the Diocese, most recently St. James Parish in Pennington. He also served for many years as director of the diocesan Office of Priest Personnel. Following his retirement in 2012, Msgr. Bacovin continued to minister in the Diocese, serving four years as chaplain of Holy Cross Academy in Delran and celebrating weekend Masses in several Burlington and Mercer County parishes.
Funeral services will be held in St. James Church, 115 E. Delaware Ave., Pennington, beginning Feb. 2
Read more about Msgr. Bacovin HERE.
MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE, including leaders of pregnancy resource centers and representatives of parish ministries, gathered virtually to get practical tips on building a pro-life culture, including serving the needs of pregnant women and their children.
The Diocese of Trenton’s second annual Standing Together for Life seminar could not be held in-person because of a snowstorm, but leaders pivoted to the virtual seminar Jan. 19. Standing Together for Life coincides with the National March for Life in Washington and offers an opportunity for people “to stand in solidarity and prayer as we proclaim the sanctity of every human life” with those marching in Washington and those throughout the country who stand in solidarity for an end to abortion, for the protection of all women and families and for the sanctity of all human life, said Rachel Hendricks, diocesan respect life coordinator.
Read the story HERE.
THE ANNUAL NATIONWIDE COLLECTION FOR THE CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA, taken up Jan. 27-28 in the Diocese of Trenton, will help support vital ministries in Central and South America and the Caribbean islands, including seminary studies for future priests, pastoral ministries including reconciliation and spiritual direction, and job search assistance for prisoners completing jail sentences.
Sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America, the funds also support program expenses for the work of evangelization, formation of laity, youth ministry and catechesis.
“Last year, the collection delivered more than $6.5 million in grants to help people who reside in regions where poverty, political and religious persecution, and other hardships make it difficult for the Church to support itself,” the USCCB reported in an article on its website. “The Church in the United States has strengthened its relationship with the Church in Latin America through this collection for nearly 60 years.”
Read about the collection HERE.
