A letter from the bishop

Dear parents, students, teachers, and pastoral leaders of the

Diocese of New Ulm;

The Catholic schools across our diocese are joining with the schools across the nation in the celebration of Catholic Schools Week with our local theme, Catholic Schools: Sharing Our Faith. This theme compliments our diocesan millennium observance of the Great Jubilee with a faith sharing program called RENEW 2000.

I commend the administrators and teachers for their participation in RENEW 2000 through their classroom program called SOFT (Sharing Our Faith Time).

I want to thank the teachers and administrators in our Catholic schools for their dedicated service and their deep sense of ministry. I challenge you to continue to grow in your faith and to willingly share that faith with your students. I also want to place before everyone, the fact that the responsibility for the faith formation of the children of this diocese is the responsibility of all Catholics in the diocese. We know that the most effective way of carrying out this responsibility is in our Catholic Schools. What can we as a diocese do to provide this opportunity for more of our students? What about area schools? What about parish involvement in providing transportation to these schools?

I am grateful for the support and assistance of the pastoral leaders who are involved in Catholic schools, and to the many parents who take advantage of these schools for their children.

God bless you all,

Bishop Raymond A. Lucker