‘Things have shifted’
From the opening of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in Montevallo to John Carroll Catholic High School’s recent renovations to the building project taking place at Holy Family Catholic School in Huntsville, all of the positive steps being made in diocesan schools are proof that in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama, “Things have shifted,” as noted by Margaret Dubose, superintendent for Catholic schools. The shift is reinforced by increased enrollment across the board, proving parents want and are willing to provide a Catholic education for their children.
From the opening of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in Montevallo to John Carroll Catholic High School’s recent renovations to the building project taking place at Holy Family Catholic School in Huntsville, all of the positive steps being made in diocesan schools are proof that in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama, “Things have shifted,” as noted by Margaret Dubose, superintendent for Catholic schools. The shift is reinforced by increased enrollment across the board, proving parents want and are willing to provide a Catholic education for their children.
Why is the diocese experiencing a shift towards Catholic education? Well, as Bishop Raica points out in his article published in this issue, Catholic education is not a luxury; rather, it is a mission. The mission is not complex. In fact, the mission is not new. Pope St. John Paul II described it most succinctly in a message to the National Catholic Educational Association of the United States in April of 1979: “Beloved sons and daughters of the Catholic Church, brothers and sisters in the faith: Catholic education is, above all, a question of communicating Christ, of helping to form Christ in the lives of others.”
Communicating Christ is only possible, though, when a school is anchored in Christ. One can argue that there are many ways to gauge if a school is anchored in Christ, but with this issue, the One Voice went right to the source. Many readers may note by the cover image that this issue took a slightly different approach with the overall theme of Catholic education. Instead of interviewing just one person, the One Voice worked with the Catholic Schools Office and Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School in Homewood, specifically second- and eighth-grade teachers Kari Cook, Marie Johnson, and Isabella Sutherland. Their students were tasked with describing how Jesus is an anchor of hope for them. What better testimony than that of those sitting in the classroom?
The other features in this issue speak to the “renewed spirit of hope coursing through the life of Catholic education in our diocese,” mentioned by Bishop Raica. From the outside looking in, it is glaringly obvious that the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama exemplify the words of Pope Benedict XVI to students at St. Mary’s University College in the United Kingdom in 2010: “A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints.” What greater hope can there be?