Campaign for Catholic Education starts with dinner

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, addressed the Knights of Columbus who gathered for the inaugural Campaign for Catholic Education dinner. Also shown from left are Tina Dover, Chuck Dover, Master of the Fourth Degree Knights of Co

A six-month campaign sponsored by the Knights of Columbus to raise money for Utah Catholic Schools began Oct. 9 with a catered dinner at Saint Vincent de Paul’s Holy Family Hall.

The venue was appropriate, said Chuck Dover, Master of the Fourth Degree Utah Knights of Columbus, who coordinated the dinner, because “this is about our family, our Catholic family, our diocesan family.”

Unlike other dioceses, where Catholic schools are closing, Utah has opened schools in the past 10 years, so there are now 16 in the state.

“They’re all wonderful schools with wonderful leadership in them,” said Holy Cross Sister Catherine Kamphaus, superintendent of Utah Catholic Schools, who spoke at the dinner. However, “they’re all a little fragile,” she said. “We can be proud of our schools, but because of the economy we have low enrollment. Parents cannot afford the tuition.”

Tuition assistance is the schools’ primary need, Sr. Cathy said. “We have desks empty. We could fill them but we don’t have the money” to fund scholarships for needy students, she said.

Catholic schools are a great grace to the Church, said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, the event’s featured speaker. The schools create an atmosphere in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, are a microcosm of the community of Christ and provide a school family for the children, help children put the Gospel into practice and are places where children can worship God, the bishop said.

“Our Catholic schools help our young people to grow in their love of God and teach them importance of worshiping God,” he said. “Our Catholic schools are doing so much more than just education, which they do very well.”

A goal for the schools is for them to provide an education for students who can’t afford it, he said, and contributions to the campaign help that happen.

For the next six months, as part of the campaign, the Knights of Columbus will be distributing pledge cards in parishes, with the money being sent directly to the bishop.

“The need for Catholic education is now,” Dover said. “There’s not time to put it into an endowment and wait for the interest. It’s time to put the money to work.”