‘Back to school’

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

“Back to school,” for most of grammar school and all of high school, were three of my “least favorite words.” That was especially true during my high school years, as the end of August drew near and I had not finished reading any of the five books that I was supposed to have read during the summer. During my college years all that changed and, while I cannot say that I looked forward to classes, tests, and papers, I did begin to look forward to going back to school.

We know that “back to school” is an experience not only for students and teachers, but for parents and families as well. This has been the case for my own family in the past few weeks, as I have a niece and nephew who have just headed off to college as freshmen. My sister’s “youngest of 3” and my brother’s “older of 2” have been “dropped off” and moved in to Catholic University and Binghamton, respectively. As my niece and nephew have been and are in my prayers during this time, I am also praying for their parents and siblings in this time of transition. Reflecting on my family’s experiences led me to send a social media message to the college students of our diocese — as well as to their parents and loved ones — wishing them the best and offering prayers as they adjust to new realities.

“Back to school” can certainly be an exciting and emotional time for students of all ages, for their families and loved ones, and for teachers, school administrators, and staff. While we would love to say that we would begin this new school year in a “post-COVID-19” time, we know that we are not there yet. We hope and pray that, thanks to the COVID vaccines, things will be much closer to being back to normal on college campuses, while we realize that may be less so at the high school level and much less so on the grammar school level.

As COVID-19 and the “Delta variant” continue to impact us in many ways, decisions about masks and vaccines are still very much on our minds and part of our communal conversations, especially as we head back to school. I wanted to take this opportunity to ask for prayers for all those who are going back to school: students, teachers, administrators, support staff, and volunteers, as well as for all families who have someone going back to school, beginning a new level of education, or going to school for the first time. This now becomes the third academic year impacted by the pandemic.

We know that there are many different opinions concerning “mask mandates” and vaccine requirements, especially for teachers and school staff. I have heard from and can understand parents who feel that it should be their decision whether or not their child wears a mask at school. Unfortunately, I believe, at this time, for the common good and in order to have our children safely back in school in-person, it seems that the mask mandate in schools makes sense. As far as the Governor’s Executive Order requiring that teachers and school staff must be vaccinated or be regularly tested, again, I understand the objection of some on the grounds of religious freedom and/or conscience, but we must take into account that the moral theology of the Church tells us that it is morally acceptable to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which Pope Francis has described as an “act of love.”

Despite all the challenges, I am happy to be able to share with you that, as our diocesan Catholic schools prepare to go back to school, we had a meeting this past week led by our Schools Superintendent, Mary Baier, with the principals and presidents of our 15 grammar schools and three high schools. Our diocesan schools are well prepared for this new school year. For more information on our Diocesan Catholic Schools, you can go to our website: https://www.patdioschools.org/

The meeting last week was the first time that I had the opportunity to gather in-person with all of our school principals and presidents. I was glad to be able to personally thank them, as a group, for the amazing job that they did last year, along with pastors, faculty and staff, and many others who contributed to the team effort of opening our schools last September, offering, for the most part, five days of in-person classes with remote and hybrid options. We hope and trust that things will indeed be better this year, but we should not forget what our Catholic schools accomplished last year and so much of that was due to wise, dedicated, and hard-working leaders.

There are two additional “back to school” topics that I would like to mention. First, I am happy to announce that our Diocese has a new director of college campus ministry. Mercylynn Mbuguah is from Fort Wayne, Ind. She has a bachelor of science degree in human communications and pre-med, and a Master of Arts in Theology and Christian Ministry from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. She assumes the role of coordinator of Campus Ministry at FDU and Drew in Madison. She will also collaborate with other college campus ministry programs in the Diocese, especially at William Paterson University in Wayne. In my message to college students, I encouraged them to continue to live and mature in their faith during the college years and reminded them that being part of campus ministry is one of many ways to do so.

The reason we had an “opening” for the campus ministry position is that the previous coordinator, Father Pawel Tomczyk, is moving on to a new ministry. Father Tomczyk has been named a full time member of the faculty at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall. In addition to coordinating college campus ministry, Father Pawel has been an adjunct faculty member at the seminary and the diocesan coordinator of RCIA and Youth Ministry, as well as a vital member of the team at St. Paul Inside the Walls. As you can see, we have more than one “opening” to fill!

The reason that I was happy that Father Pawel was willing to say “yes” to his new assignment at the seminary is that the ministry of seminary formation, preparing men for priesthood, I believe, is one of the “underrated” and underappreciated ministries in the Church. We should pray for the priests, religious, and lay women and men who have the responsibility of seminary formation, especially as we remember that our seminarians and seminaries are also going “back to school” at this time.

Whether we like it or not, at this time of year, we remember that it is time for “back to school” and we should all pray for blessings in the new school year.