Pastoral Letter on Catholic Education

Fullfilling Our Discipleship Through a Renewed Commitment to Catholic Education

September 27, 2023

As we recently began a new school year, I wish to impart a reminder to our faithful of the solemn obligation we have to educate our young people in the Faith and Traditions of Our Church as documented in the seminal document of the Second Vatican Council – Declaration on Christian Education, (Gravissimum Educationis): “Since all Christians have become by rebirth of water and the Holy Spirit a new creature so that they should be called and should be children of God, they have a right to a Christian education.”

In the attached Pastoral Letter, I outline the Buffalo Diocese’s history in providing a Catholic education to our children and state that our educational efforts through these more than 175 years is a gateway through which generations have accessed the fullness of Christian identity and acquired the intellectual, emotional and spiritual resources to navigate life’s inevitable complexities while also fulfilling their community and societal obligations.

Bishop Michael W. Fisher