Minnesota bishop: Singer Gracie Abrams helps young people confront 'gaping wounds in their hearts'

Hereʼs a roundup of the latest Catholic education news in the U.S.

Minnesota bishop cites Gracie Abrams in speech on educators’ role in healing wounds

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston shared a video performance of pop singer Gracie Abrams during his keynote speech at the National Catholic Educational Association convention.

While discussing the role of educators in helping young people to heal from their wounds, Cozzens played a video of Abrams performing her song “Camden.”

“The poetry that she sings about expresses the depth of pain that she carries in her heart, and whatʼs even more clear is that it resonates with tens of thousands of people in the stadium all her same age,” Cozzens said during his April 7 keynote, according to UCA News. “Many people in the stadium also feel like singing.”

In the song, an extended reflection on insecurity and personal struggles, Abrams sings, in part, “All of me, a wound to close / But I leave the whole thing open / I just wanted you to know / I was never good at coping.”

“This is the height of popular culture,” he said. “This is what our young people are singing about, the gaping wounds in their hearts.”

Catholic educators must invite young people to encounter Christ in their wounds, rather than seeking value from social media, artificial intelligence, popular culture, or politics, he said.

The National Catholic Educational Association convention took place April 7-9. Other highlights at the event included a live butter sculpture of Pope Leo XIV, and “Puppy Love” sessions sponsored by Safe Hands Rescue and Healing Hearts Rescue, according to the event schedule.

Chicago Archdiocese says public school system abruptly cut off funding for students with disabilities

More than 800 students with disabilities attending Chicago Catholic schools will be affected after the city’s public school system suddenly suspended funding to social services before the end of the school year.

The Chicago Archdiocese said in an April 10 statement that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) targeted only Catholic schools in terminating services for individuals with special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The statement noted students with learning differences will lose access to math, reading, and writing tutoring, which will create “severe hardship for hundreds of students” who were relying on the services through the end of the year.

“We are not aware of any other non-public school system or individual school, religious or secular, whose IDEA services have been terminated,” the archdiocese said. “It is not clear why Catholic schools are being treated differently, but Catholic school students have the right to be treated equally under the law.”

Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said the archdiocese “cannot allow this shocking and possibly discriminatory action by CPS to stand, not only given its affront to Catholics, but even more so since this injustice would disenfranchise the students we serve.”

The archdiocese said efforts to reach CPS Superintendent Macquline King “have not yielded a response.”

The archdiocese said the Chicago school system had verbally confirmed funding for the services would continue through the end of the school year “as recently as March 25″ before informing the archdiocese during Holy Week that the services would be suspended.

“While federal funding for these services was provided to CPS for the full school year, we were informed that the last day of services would be [April 10],” the archdiocese said.

Georgia archdiocese launches virtual Catholic high school

The Archdiocese of Atlanta is starting a fully online Catholic high school program this fall in partnership with Catholic Education Services.

The launch of Sacred Heart Virtual Academy comes amid increased demand among homeschooling families, according to an April 8 report from the Georgia Bulletin.

Curriculum will be provided by Catholic Education Services, whose mission “is to partner with Catholic school leaders and provide services that extend the reach and impact of your school’s mission through a faith-centered, rigorously academic education with a flexible learning platform,” according to its website.

“We knew that we were not filling the needs of a group of kids that were in our parishes,” Kim Shields, the archdiocesan associate superintendent of schools, said in the report. “This allows a child that doesn’t want to go to a brick-and-mortar school to have that opportunity.” 

The school will serve grades 9-12, according to its website, and is open to students outside of the archdiocese.

“My hope is that it serves what we’re about — to provide programs for students to help them develop in all areas of their life,” Shields said. “The premise is that everything is centered around the mission of the Catholic Church.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/minnesota-bishop-singer-gracie-abrams-helps-young-people-confront-gaping-wounds-in-their-hearts