Catholic Schools Week launched in Dundalk
Guest speaker, Fr. Ronald Nuzzi (left), University of Notre Dame, Fiona Gallagher, Marist Education Authority, Cardinal Seán Brady and Con Mcginley, Principal of St. Mary's College at the launch of Catholic Schools Week 2012 held in St. Mary's Church.
CON MCKINLEY, Principal of Saint Mary's College, Dundalk, welcomed guests to the all- Ireland launch of Catholic Schools Week 2012 in the school last Thursday.
Speakers at the launch were Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and Reverend Dr Ronald Nuzzi, a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and director of the leadership programme for the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, who delivered the keynote address.
Cardinal Brady said, During Catholic Schools Week we celebrate the part played by Catholic schools in handing on the faith from one generation to the next. The Catholic school, as we know it here in Ireland, is a good example of co-operation between the parents, teachers and community. Yet we must beware of loading too much on to the schools. They are, after all, a help to parents.
He added 'I am very happy to be here in Saint Mary's College, Dundalk, to launch Catholic Schools Week 2012. A few months ago we gathered here in this great co-educational Marist Secondary School to celebrate another joyful occasion. We were celebrating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Saint Mary's in 1861. People came from the ends of the earth to join in these great celebrations.'
' This year Catholic Schools Week reflects on the school as a community having as its goal the full development of the pupil,' said the Cardinal.
Another major local event took place on Tuesday when 600 primary and secondary school pupils gathered in St. Patrick's Cathedral for 'Seinn', a 'Songs of Praise' style event.
