N
T1IH 13dVHD
C£6J-665Zc ON D £f£
xavaen nosiim MO»lM"n03 0
so
U000-8O
C3
ATHOLIC
L
News & Herald Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte
Volume 3 Number 44 August 26, 1994
U.S. Catholics
First
Day Fun
Responding To Rwanda Appeal CHICAGO (CNS) — A shipment of six U.S. tractor-trailer trucks to aid
Rwandan
was the
relief efforts
brain-
child of a Catholic corporate executive in
Chicago.
Matthew Hehl, a vice president of Navistar International Transportation Corp. in Chicago, spearheaded the donation to Catholic Relief Services, the U.S.
Catholic overseas aid agency, after
watching a televised news report on dying
Rwandan refugees.
At this end the value of gift can be measured in dollars about $275,000. In Rwanda its value will be measured in
—
human lives. More than 800,000 Rwandans have fled their homes and are living in refugee
St. Patrick
lets
School kindergarten students
find
recess to be a great break from their
the youngsters explore the playground on their first day of school. Pictured
McQueen, Michael Malone, Corey Swanda, Alex Lapalombella,
Christine
(l-r):
camps. A Catholic network of CRS and European Caritas agencies is providing food and other assistance to 200,000 in Rwanda and neighboring countries. As of Aug. 19 CRS reported having received at least $2.25 million in donations from U.S. dioceses since mid-July, when the media began to focus on the dimensions of the refugee tragedy and Catholic dioceses were asked to take up
new studies as teacher Mary Szura Ginny Slee, Olivia Myrick, Shannon
Maley and Jessica O'Connell. Photo by JOANN
Rwanda at week-
special collections for
KEANE
end Masses. Catholics in the Chicago Archdio-
patholic School Enrollment
cese donated $436,000 at weekend Masses July 23-24. The previous record
Shows Jump
collection for a foreign disaster in the
archdiocese had been $280,000 raised in
1989 for Lebanon.
By
CAROL HAZARD Associate Editor
The good news is Catholic school ipnrollment is up across the country for Ihe second year in a row. The even better jiews is enrollment in the diocese' s
System
is
pumping up
school
the national fig-
y
iMes.
All 16 schools in the Diocese of Charlotte are reporting either steady or ising enrollment. vith
Most schools are filled
openings only
at certain
grade lev-
Hutchcraft.
Educators attribute the demand to a in North Carolina as well as parents looking for quality education in a Catholic valuesbased environment. "It's a values question for us, "particularly considering all the trouble in the public system with guns and knives, says Chris Nunez, president of the Home School Association at Our Lady of Grace. "In addition to receiving
growing Catholic population
els. I
Greensboro added a kindergarten and a first grade for a total of 307 students. "It' s so sad when we have to turn people away," said Principal Sue Geraghty. Our Lady of Grace School, Greensboro, is completely full with 438 students. More than 100 children are on a two-year waiting list for kindergarten alone. "We still have siblings we aren't able to get in," said Principal Roberta
Remarkably, the enrollment inreases have occurred despite a reduc!on in class size from 35 to 30 students less.
Schools with waiting lists have com•ensated for the reductions
lasses.
For example,
St.
by adding Pius
X
in
a quality education, the kids are taught
the
same kinds of things we teach
home
in
at
terms of values, discipline and
morals."
Moreover, the teachers are extended family, she said. "The kids know someone is looking after them." "We're one of the few places in the country not just dreaming of building schools, we're building schools," said Dr. Michael Skube, diocesan school superintendent.
A new
high school in Charlotte
is
Parishes of the Baltimore Archdio-
CRS
expected to open in August 1995. The present high school will be converted into a middle school, which will open at the same time. Moreover, enrollment in a
cese,
two-year-old school
about $2,000.
—
— All
Saints in
where
has
its
national head-
quarters, donated $207,000.
One
small
inner-city parish, St. Vincent de Paul,
usually gets a total
weekend collection of
When
the pastor an-
students for a total of 650,
making it the
nounced that the whole regular collection would go to CRS for Rwanda relief,
largest Catholic school in
North Caro-
parishioners put $ 1 0,000 in the baskets.
Enrollment in Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools has jumped 36 percent with 862 new students since the six schools became part of a regionalized system two years ago. Bishop McGuinness High School, Winston-Salem, has seen four years of continuous enrollment expansion. The school is subsidizing three van pools to shuttle students to and from Greensboro. Hence, many of its 35 new students this year are from Greensboro. Principal George Repass said the steady increase is due in part to "a vastly improved" recruitment and public relations program. "The Bishop McGuinness message is having a greater impact," he
nated $70,000 through their parishes. In Spokane, Wash., an appeal for dona-
Charlotte
rose again this year by 25
Catholics of Columbus, Ohio, do-
lina.
said.
The high school offers quality alter-
native education centered on values and
That's the message that's getting
And
by the diocesan newspaper, the
Inland Register, brought in about $5 ,000.
Hehl said he was stirred to action by a Cable
News Network report. See Rwanda, Page 2
How To
Help
Donations to Catholic Relief SerRwanda can be made
vices for aid to
by mail or telephone. Checks or money orders should be
made
out to
"CRS"
with a notation "Rwanda" on the memo line indicating for.
Send
what the contribution is
to Catholic Relief Services,
MD
religion.
out.
tions
it's
the system.
being echoed throughout
P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, 2 1 203-7090. For more information on
CRS work
in
Rwanda
or to
make
a
contribution by credit card, call (800)
736-3467.