PAPAL POINTS

His Holiness Pope Benedict the 16th will make his first Apostolic Voyage to the United States this Tuesday through Sunday. Although we will not be present at any formal Papal events, we, as Shamrocks, can participate from this corner of God’s vineyard. Please take note of the following items:

On Thursday, April 17th, fifteen Shamrocks will take part in a Prayer Service and Youth Rally in honor of the Pope. The event will take place at Portage Park from 9:30-1:00PM.
We are proud of the following students who will take part in this historically significant event. They, together, form the alumni of eight Catholic Grammar Schools in our region:

Freshmen: David Rivera, David Delapena and Andrew Morun

Sophomores: Matt Garcia and Tim Houston

Juniors: Andrew Florczyk, Kyle McKelvey, Pat Downey, Jim Rachmaciej, Scott Thiel, Christian Ketter and Brendan Powers

Seniors: Andy Urdiales, Brett Wojciechowski, Ferdinand Velez

These students will be gone after Period A through the remainder of the day.


Birthday Gift of Service to the Pope
During this visit, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate his 81st birthday on April 16th.
To recognize this special event – and the U.S. visit in general – the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is launching a campaign seeking service hours to be pledged in honor of the Holy Father’s birthday.
Students in schools, parish religious education programs, colleges and seminaries are asked to complete or pledge community service time in the name of the pope.
We are happy to announce that Saint Patrick High School has pledged 4,000 hours of the service performed by our students as part of the birthday gift to the Pope.