Press Release: Definitive Biographer of Pope St. John Paul II to Keynote Cristo Rey High Schools Event

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on

LinkedIn

Update: Watch the event videos below, in order.

Pioneer Institute to simultaneously release study on Cristo Rey schools

BOSTON – George Weigel, who wrote a bestselling two-volume biography of Pope St. John Paul II; former Ambassador to the Vatican and three-term Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn; and Jeffrey Thielman, co-founder of the Cristo Rey Network of Catholic schools, will be among the speakers at “Witnessing Hope: Cristo Rey Schools & Catholic Education,” a Pioneer Institute and Catholic Schools Foundation forum to be held Monday, November 13^th from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. at the Omni Parker House in Boston.

Thielman is also the co-author of “Cristo Rey Schools: A Model of 21^st-Century Catholic Education,” a Pioneer Institute White Paper that will be released at the event.

Download: "Cristo Rey Schools: A Model of 21st-Century Catholic Education"

Nationally, more than 5.2 million students attended Catholic schools in 1965. By last year, the number had dropped to less than two million.

Schools in the Chicago-based Cristo Rey Network, which serves families at the bottom of the income scale, are bucking that trend. Students receive a college preparatory education and participate in a work-study program that teaches them employable skills while providing money to help pay for tuition.

The first Cristo Rey High School opened in Chicago in 1996. Since then, 31 more have opened in 21 states and the District of Columbia, including schools in Boston and Lawrence. Eight additional schools are expected to open by 2020.

Weigel is a Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at Washington, D.C.’s Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is also senior Vatican analyst for NBC News. His weekly column, “The Catholic Difference,” is syndicated to 85 newspapers and magazines in seven countries. He has authored more than 20 books in addition to Witness to Hope and The End and the Beginning, his two-volume biography of Pope St. John Paul II.

In addition to serving as former Ambassador to the Vatican and three terms as Boston Mayor, Raymond Flynn is the bestselling author of The Accidental Pope and John Paul II: A Personal Portrait of the Pope and the Man.

Before becoming President and CEO of the International Institute of New England, Thielman co-founded the national Cristo Rey Network. He also served as President of Cristo Rey Boston High School.

Additional speakers will include Kathleen Mears, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston; G.R. Kearney, a Partner at Acuity Capital Partners in Chicago and author of More Than a Dream: How One School’s Vision is Changing the World; and Lisa Edouard, a graduate of Cristo Rey and Boston College. A panel discussion will be moderated by Katie Everett, Executive Director of The Lynch Foundation.

Introductory remarks will be provided by Tom Birmingham, Distinguished Senior Fellow in Education at Pioneer Institute, and Rick Henken, a board member of the Catholic Schools Foundation.

The event is co-sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, the Catholic Schools Foundation, the Cristo Rey Network, Cristo Rey High School Boston, Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School, The Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the American Principles Project, and EdChoice.

The event will feature a sneak preview of Pioneer’s new documentary, “Big Sacrifices, Big Dreams: Ending America’s Bigoted Education Laws,” to be released in January 2018. The Cristo Rey schools forum will be available for live, online viewing.

###

Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.

Get Updates on Our School Choice Research

Related Research

Study: Signs of Progress at Madison Park, but Still a Long Way to Go

September 10, 2020

Four years after it began to implement a turnaround plan, Boston’s Madison Park Technical Vocational High School is showing clear signs of progress, but its performance continues to lag behind that of other vocational-technical schools in Massachusetts, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

Education tax credit programs extend choice to families who can’t afford private schools or to move to a tony community

0 Comments

July 20, 2020

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s Espinoza ruling, many more students can reap the benefits of school choice

Public Statement: Pioneer Institute Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Espinoza School Choice Case

June 30, 2020

Pioneer Institute applauds today’s U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down a bigoted state constitutional amendment in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Like Massachusetts, Montana is among nearly 40 states with so-called anti-aid amendments, which have roots in 19th century anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant discrimination.

A Well-Deserved Glimmer of Hope for Massachusetts Catholic Schools

0 Comments

January 28, 2020

Enrollment in Archdiocese of Boston schools has increased by about 4,000 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Combine that with a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case that makes it easier to support the schools and it adds up to a well-deserved glimmer of hope for Catholic schools that have fallen on hard times despite their outstanding performance.

When The Commonwealth Pays The Education Bill, It Should Get A School Committee Say

0 Comments

November 19, 2019

Local education officials were up in arms earlier this year when Pioneer Institute proposed giving the Commonwealth the power to appoint some school committee seats in urban districts that are mostly state-funded. It would be hard to imagine a better example of why we need to adopt that reform than the current mess in Fall River.

Education business ruled by teachers’ unions truly terrifying

0 Comments

October 29, 2019

This op-ed originally appeared in The Worcester Telegram &…

Pioneer Institute Files Updated Amicus Brief in Potentially Landmark School Choice Case Currently before U.S. Supreme Court

0 Comments

September 23, 2019

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s June decision…

Tackling equity at Boston’s exam schools

0 Comments

August 5, 2019

By Jim Stergios August 2, 2019 This spring, The New York Times…

The Supreme Court Is Set To Decide Whether Religious Kids Are Allowed A Good Education

0 Comments

July 19, 2019

Thanks to Kendra Espinoza, a determined Montana mom, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up and hopefully strike down the infamous legacy of state Know-Nothing and Blaine amendments. From Massachusetts to Michigan and across the nation, this case has the potential to overturn a century and a half of state constitutional discrimination against religious families and their quest for the most suitable and effective education for their children.

Pioneer Alert: Supreme Court Will Rule on Highly Significant School Choice Case

0 Comments

June 28, 2019

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) announced that it would…

By Jamie Gass and Ze'ev Wurman May 1, 2019 This op-ed appeared…

Press Release: Definitive Biographer of Pope St. John Paul II to Keynote Cristo Rey High Schools Event

Get Updates on Our School Choice Research

Study: Signs of Progress at Madison Park, but Still a Long Way to Go

Education tax credit programs extend choice to families who can’t afford private schools or to move to a tony community

Public Statement: Pioneer Institute Applauds U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Espinoza School Choice Case

A Well-Deserved Glimmer of Hope for Massachusetts Catholic Schools

When The Commonwealth Pays The Education Bill, It Should Get A School Committee Say

Education business ruled by teachers’ unions truly terrifying

Pioneer Institute Files Updated Amicus Brief in Potentially Landmark School Choice Case Currently before U.S. Supreme Court

Tackling equity at Boston’s exam schools

The Supreme Court Is Set To Decide Whether Religious Kids Are Allowed A Good Education

Pioneer Alert: Supreme Court Will Rule on Highly Significant School Choice Case

Study Finds Student Growth Percentile Is Unreliable, Limits Access to Charter Public Schools

Pioneer Public Statement on Legislative Demise of New Bedford Charter School Deal

Guglielmo Marconi and the importance of innovation and choice in education

Pioneer Institute Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Hear School Choice Case

State DPH Continues to Deny Private School Students Millions in School Nurse Services

Study: Financial Impact of Charter Schools Depends on Percentage of Funding Districts Receive from State

Public Statement on Alma del Mar Charter School Expansion

Study: After-School Programs Can Help Improve Flat or Declining Math Achievement