Letter to Educators
February 25, 2008
Dear Catholic Educators and Catechists in Schools, Parishes, Colleges
and Seminaries,
As you know, Pope Benedict XVI will visit the United States in April
and will focus much of his journey on education. I am writing to
announce – and to ask your participation in – a project
to honor the Holy Father during his U.S. visit April 15-20, 2008.
The project is called “Birthday Blessings for Pope Benedict
XVI: A gift of public service from U.S. Catholic youth and students.”
The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is launching
a campaign seeking service hours in honor of the Holy Father’s
birthday. Students in schools, religious education programs, colleges
and seminaries from all over the United States and its territories
are being asked to complete or pledge (for completion by May 31,
2008) community service time in the name of the pope. Will you help
us in this endeavor by involving the young people you know and serve?
Activities could include efforts in which students are already involved,
or those that reflect the mission of the church to serve others.
We ask that you designate someone to keep track of your institution’s
service hours and report them to NCEA. The service could be anything
that helps others – a canned food drive, nursing home visits,
cleaning up a school or local park, writing letters to soldiers or
shut-ins, raising money for a charity, etc.
After gathering the information, please ask the designated person
to enter the information into the “pledge form” on the
Web site we established for this endeavor: http://ncea.catholic.org/.
This Web site has a lot more information for you, parents and students.
You may report information for an entire school, religious education
program, a smaller group or an individual. The Web site asks for
your name and contact info (we ask for your phone and e-mail address
just in case we need to clarify something), the name of your institution
(if applicable), the arch/diocese you are in, the hours pledged,
the number of participants (this would be 1 for an individual reporting
service hours), and, if available, some background on the kinds of
service projects undertaken (canned food drive, visiting shut-ins,
etc.)
Without a doubt, community service is a hallmark of Catholic schools,
colleges, seminaries and religious education programs. In dedicating
this service to the Holy Father, Catholic young people will demonstrate
their love for the pope, their Catholic faith and for their brothers
and sisters in need.
Thank you in advance for your support for this project.
Sincerely,
Karen M. Ristau
President
National Catholic Educational Association
•