Faith

Friday, September 5, 2025Faith

Submit a Letter to the Editor

There are few more important and basic tasks for a healthy society than the defense of the most vulnerable and the cherishing of the gift of life.

Archbishop Richard G.
Henning

Many Catholic schools keep the tradition of a "Mass of the Holy Spirit" in the first week or two after the opening of school, invoking the Spirit upon the school community and its sacred work of educating and forming the young. I will be making a number of visits to schools across the region for such school Masses, and I am looking forward to each visit, as praying with our school communities never fails to lift my spirits.
Catholic schools have a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence and for robust community life. In the crucible of the pandemic, Catholic schools demonstrated their adaptability and effective local responses to the crisis and its effects. Catholic schools have a culture of faith that inspires and empowers faculty, parents, and students. That same faith confers a wider and deeper perspective to our school communities. The pandemic was a frightening time, but it is precisely in the midst of fear that the Gospel calls us to exercise love and compassion all the more. Faculty and staff proved the depth of their commitment to students, and parents engaged with the school leadership to make certain that the learning environment was as safe as possible, while ensuring that the children were together and in school. I am convinced that it is this sense of connection to one another and to God that is the secret to a school that forms the mind and the heart.

As a child, I remember the excitement of the first days of school, and I certainly pray with and for the students and school communities of our region. At the same time, I am painfully aware of the anxiety of parents and teachers and the fears of children in an age when too many schools have been struck by violent and evil attacks. The recent tragedy in Minnesota crossed a new line as children were attacked at one of those opening school Masses.
There are few more important and basic tasks for a healthy society than the defense of the most vulnerable and the cherishing of the gift of life. St. Pope John Paul II warned us of the "culture of death," and his words have proven to be as prophetic as they have been unheeded. I am ashamed to see the depravity of our culture expressed so clearly in these now-frequent attacks on students at every level of education. I am ashamed by the failure of our political system to address the tragedy of gun violence in our schools and beyond. I am ashamed that we have not responded to the mental health crisis that figures into these tragedies. I am ashamed at the viciousness of the rhetoric in our social media.
Please join me in praying for the conversion of those who commit violence and the fostering of a culture of reverence for human life. Please join me in praying for the well-being and safety of all of the school communities in our region. Please join me in praying for the returning students that they may have a school year of friendship, learning, joy, and peace:
+ Through the intercession of St. Gianna Molla and all scientist saints, may students be given the gift of curiosity and be filled with eagerness to know and understand.
+ Through the intercession of Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and all philosopher and theologian saints, may students always look to the depth of creation and of their own hearts in the search of God's wisdom and truth.
+ Through the intercession of St. Michael and all of the Archangels, may the students be defended against evil and all forms of physical, emotional and spiritual harm.
We thank you Father for the gift of these young people and ask your blessing upon their school year and upon all those who faithfully accompany them on their journey. We entrust all students to Your loving care with confidence through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

- Archbishop Richard G. Henning is the Archbishop of Boston