This week the Church in the United States celebrates Catholic Schools Week. Catholic schools have been an important part of the American Church ministry from its earliest days. Catholics recognized that although there are many blessings to be found in the United States, religiously it was hostile territory for us. America was originally founded by Protestants at a time when Protestantism was very anti-Catholic. Catholics were very oppressed and discriminated against in this new country. Our Catholic ancestors recognized that it was important to found Catholic schools so that children could learn their Catholic faith and hold on to that faith in this new land.
    
We have seen in the United States many Catholic schools, usually run by Catholic sisters, and Catholic parishes, that educated and evangelized our children. This has gone on for over 200 years. The Diocese of Covington has one of the largest and strongest Catholic School systems in the US. Within our diocese, there is a higher percent of Catholic students enrolled in Catholic schools than in any other diocese in the country. That is remarkable.
    
We in Covington are part of what is called the Alliance of Catholic Urban Education (ACUE), which includes Prince of Peace, St. Augustine, Holy Cross, St. Anthony (Taylor Mill), and Holy Trinity (Bellevue). We also have Holy Cross High School and Covington Catholic High School in Covington. The Diocese of Covington has many other grade schools and high schools, and we have Thomas More University. For a small diocese, we are richly blessed.
    
During Catholic Schools Week, we celebrate the history of Catholic schools in our diocese and the impact that they have had on the lives of generations of students and our entire Northern Kentucky community.