We are pleased to share some exciting news about our own beloved Bishop John O’Hara. He is a champion for our Catholic schools, and we are blessed to have him as a successor to the apostles.

Tonight he is being honored by the organization SOAR-USA! SOAR (Support Our Aging Religious) raises funds and provides grants to help Catholic religious congregations in the United States care for their elderly and infirmed sisters and brothers.

We wanted to celebrate all Bishop O’Hara has done for us, as Pope Francis did on Sept 24, 2015, at St Patrick’s Cathedral. The Holy Father recognized all of the men and women religious who served our Catholic schools so faithfully!  Tonight would be a great opportunity to share with your child the special influence that men or women religious may have had in your life.

Join us for the 35th Annual SOAR! New York Awards Gala will be held tonight, September 15, 2021. (7:00PM Eastern Time). The New York Gala runs less than 40 minutes. Click here at 7:00 PM tonight.

Excerpt from Pope Francis Homily St. Patrick’s Cathedral 2015:

“There is a cause for rejoicing here”, although “you may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials” (1 Pet 1:6). These words of the Apostle remind us of something essential. Our vocation is to be lived in joy.

This beautiful Cathedral of Saint Patrick, built up over many years through the sacrifices of many men and women, can serve as a symbol of the work of generations of American priests and religious, and lay faithful who helped build up the Church in the United States. In the field of education alone, how many priests and religious in this country played a central role, assisting parents in handing on to their children the food that nourishes them for life! Many did so at the cost of extraordinary sacrifice and with heroic charity. I think for example of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who founded the first free Catholic school for girls in America, or Saint John Neumann, the founder of the first system of Catholic education in the United States.”

We congratulate Bishop O’Hara and are grateful for his service to the Church!

Sincerely,

Mr. Michael J. Deegan
Superintendent of Schools
Archdiocese of New York