The Catholic Community Foundation has made a distribution in the amount of $1,393,573 to the Office of Catechetical Formation and Education to provide assistance to a total of 156 Catholic schools and parish catechetical programs in the Diocese of Cleveland. Grants are being awarded to help fund retreats and textbooks,upgrade technology, enhance school curriculum with STREAM programs, create Maker Spaces and more to advance 21stcentury learning initiatives.
The distribution was funded through the generosity of all parishes in the Diocese – pastors, parochial vicars, volunteers and parishioners – through the historic Rooted in Faith – Forward in Hope fundraising campaign, which raised $170 million in support of campaign case components that benefit diocesan and parish ministries in the eight counties of the Diocese of Cleveland (Ashland, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Summit and Wayne).
The grants will be distributed to school principals, parish catechetical leaders and pastors at a Catholic Schools Week celebration which will take place on Wednesday, January 31 at St. Ambrose Parish in Brunswick. Most Reverend Nelson J. Perez, DD, Bishop of Cleveland, and Christopher Knight, Diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Schools, will speak at 11:30 a.m. event. Afterward, Bishop Perez will take time to meet with students and faculty during lunch at St. Ambrose School.
“It is with great joy that we present these grants to our schools and catechetical programs during Catholic Schools week, a time in which we celebrate the quality, Gospel-centered education provided to nearly 42,000 students in the Diocese of Cleveland. Thank you to the faithful for their continued generosity and support of Catholic education, a hallmark of the Church in Northeast Ohio and throughout the world,” says Bishop Perez.