Bishop Brendan Leahy led a Mass of Thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of Boards of Management in the Catholic Primary Schools in the Diocese of Limerick on Monday, December 1. The event took place in St John’s Cathedral and gathered current and former board members.
In his homily, Bishop Leahy said, “At times, we can get disheartened when looking at developments in the world’s politics and regimes. And yet Catholic schools have the mission to keep hope alive.” He mentioned that board members, school staff, teachers, clergy, the students and the local community can do their part “to set people free from an encircling gloom that can easily threaten to ‘cancel’ hope.”
Catholic schools are not only a place for hope but also for integration, the bishop said. “So many of our schools cater for students from all kinds of backgrounds and nationalities,” he said. “Catholic schools are real points of integration in Irish society, embedded as they are in local communities.”
These schools are “hubs” of learning, culture, sports and music, Bishop Leahy mentioned. “We can say that all that goes on in Catholic schools is a daily witness to the fact that ‘Christian love is prophetic: it works miracles’.”
