The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has what some might consider a surprising new mission field: its own Catholic high school students.
“High schools are at the front lines for the souls of our young people, because the risk is high that students will lose their Catholic faith after they graduate,” explained Jason Slattery, director of Catholic education in the archdiocese and the superintendent of schools. “Cultural and peer influences that seek to divert them from the rich freedom their faith offers are waiting at every fork in the road,” he continued. “They will need to vigorously swim upstream if they want to hold firm to their Catholic foundation.”
The archdiocese’s growing realization that a strong Catholic presence is necessary at this critical time, and that high schools are natural mission territory for priests, is the reason that the Archdiocesan Office for the Mission of Catholic Education — at Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s behest — is placing new emphasis on the role of priest chaplains in the archdiocese’s 16 Catholic high schools.