Education is not an ancillary activity but forms the very fabric of evangelization:
it is the concrete way in which the Gospel becomes
an educational gesture, a relationship, a culture.
– Pope Leo XIV
The Catholic Education Foundation presents
The Priest in Today’s Catholic School
Where: Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, the Athenaeum in Cincinnati
When: July 14-16, 2026
Who: The best minds in American Catholic education
What: Bishops, priests and seminarians gather for three days of liturgy, prayer, talks, conversation, and reflection on the key ideas and best practices surrounding the role of the priest in today’s Catholic school. Presentations address mission and identity, governance and authority, finances and budgeting, curriculum and instruction, and handling hot button topics such as sexuality and ethics, science and modernism, as well as technology in our time.
Why: According to Fr. Peter Stravinskas, the CEF President, “We need to revive what I like to call The Spirit of 1884, in which the bishops of our nation issued their clarion call to have every Catholic child in a Catholic school. In that way and only in that way, shall we stave off the emergence of another generation growing up according to what Thomas Merton called, ‘the standards of a civilization of hyenas.’”
Important Feedback from the conference
“This is the Who’s Who of Catholic Education”
– Mary Pat Donohue, Assistant General Secretary,
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
“Working in Catholic schools begins by having interior convictions about their ecclesial and spiritual purposes and are made fruitful by a clear mission-driven disposition that guides the daily efforts of administrators, teachers, and staff. The Catholic Education Foundation has been exemplary in promoting such goals.”
Rev. Michael W. Davis, Ed.D.
Pastor, Archdiocese of Miami
Professor, Pontifex University
“You can’t hide. You have to participate. Other conferences, the priests come, disappear, and play golf. This one challenges to transform Catholic schools in the mind of the Church.” – Attendee 2025
“Every priest who has some governance over a Catholic school should attend this conference at least once!” – Attendee 2025
Speakers:
Rev. Peter M. J. Stravinskas (President, Catholic Education Foundation)
Rev. John Belmonte, SJ (Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Venice)
Deacon Sean Costello (Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Winona-Rochester)
Rev. Michael Davis (Pastor, Archdiocese of Miami & Professor, Pontifex University)
Carlos de Quesada (Vera Cruz Advisory)
John Dejak (Director, Secretariat of Catholic Education, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Brian Dorrian (Philosophy Department Head, Charlotte Catholic High School)
Johann D’Souza (Clinical Psychologist)
Sr. Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ (Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of New York)
Rev. James Kuroly (Rector/President, Cathedral Prep School & Seminary, Diocese of Brooklyn)
Rev. Msgr. Thomas Machalski (Pastor, Diocese of Brooklyn)
Rev. Christopher Peschel (Pastor & Diocesan School Board Member, Fall River, Massachusetts)
Dr. Robert Royal (Editor, The Catholic Thing)
Rev. Msgr. Joseph Schaedel (Vicar General Emeritus & Pastor Emeritus, Archdiocese of Indianapolis)
Br. Owen Sadlier. OSF (Professor, St. Joseph Seminary, New York)
How Much: $700 (all-inclusive); $650 for registrations before May 31
CEF, convinced by history and the present reality, believes that the viability of our Catholic schools is largely dependent on the support and involvement of our priests. Our seminar will include workshops dealing with the following topics:
- Conciliar and Papal Teaching on Catholic Education
- The History of Catholic Education in the United States
- The Priest’s Presence in the School Community (Students, Faculty,
Administration, Parents) - The Priest as the Public Relations Man of the School
- Financial Concerns
- Models of Governance and Best Practices
For further information: call 215-327-5754 or email fstravinskas@hotmail.com.