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Latest update: November 22, 2025
Catholic Education Sunday: November 22-23, 2025
Catholic Education Sunday: November 22-23, 2025
November 22–23, 2025**
Theme: “Anchored in Christ, Beacon of Hope.”
Catholic Education Sunday is a moment for our communities to pause and give thanks for the gift of Catholic education and for all who serve it: teachers, staff, trustees, clergy, families, and students.
This year’s theme speaks clearly to our mission. In a changing world, our schools remain rooted in Christ — steady, hopeful, and forming young people with clarity and purpose.
Funds raised through Catholic Education Sunday directly support the CCEF, ensuring that enhanced learning opportunities continue to grow throughout the Calgary Catholic School District.
Bishop Stephen Hero Appointed Next Archbishop of Edmonton
Bishop Stephen Hero Appointed Next Archbishop of Edmonton
Pope Leo has appointed Bishop Stephen A. Hero as the eighth Archbishop of Edmonton, with installation set for January 23, 2026, at St. Joseph’s Basilica.
Archbishop-Designate Hero is no stranger to Edmonton. Raised here from childhood and ordained for this Archdiocese in 2000, he has served as parish priest, Vocations Director, seminary formator, and Rector of St. Joseph Seminary. A spiritual theologian and liturgist by training, he brings a strong commitment to the Church’s mission, clear teaching, and the formation of future leaders.
Since 2021 he has served as Bishop of Prince Albert, where he has been deeply appreciated for his pastoral presence, humility, and fidelity to the faith.
For Catholic education, his appointment is significant. Archbishop-Designate Hero’s decades of work in formation and his deep roots in this Archdiocese signal strong continuity in supporting Catholic identity, the Church–school partnership, and the ongoing renewal of our mission.
Fr. Paul Kavanagh, Archdiocesan Administrator, welcomed the appointment with gratitude, assuring the Archbishop-Designate of the prayers and support of the faithful.
GrACE joins the Archdiocese in offering our warm prayers and congratulations to Archbishop-Designate Stephen Hero as he returns home to shepherd the Church in Edmonton. Ad multos annos!
The Frame and The Flame
The Frame and The Flame
Incorporation provides GrACE with stability and continuity, but more importantly, it gave structure to a movement already alive in the hearts of Catholic educators, trustees, parents, clergy, and students.
Incorporation provides GrACE with stability and continuity, but more importantly, it gave structure to a movement already alive in the hearts of Catholic educators, trustees, parents, clergy, and students.
It is not about formality — it was about fidelity: ensuring that the mission of Catholic education endures beyond personalities, projects, and seasons.
Structure alone does not create a movement — it gives the movement room to grow.
Incorporation provided the frame, but the Spirit provides the life.
GrACE’s new foundation now depends on the generosity of individuals who step forward — trustees, educators, clergy, and parents — whose faith turns framework into mission.
The structure now safeguards what hearts have built: a living movement sustained by people, not policy.
From Initiative to Movement
From Initiative to Movement
GrACE has grown from a coordinated effort into a permanent Catholic movement of gratitude, formation, and witness.
Since incorporating in April 2025, we’ve moved boldly from coordination to communion — stepping into a new missionary era grounded in witness, formation, and renewal.
GrACE no longer builds only advocacy; it builds advocates — parents, trustees, clergy, and educators formed as missionary disciples who live the Gospel with courage and joy.
Rooted in Christ, GrACE stands as a beacon of hope for Catholic education across Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon.
“Catholic education is one of the Church’s most enduring gifts to society.
Its preservation depends not on institutions alone but on witnesses — people who live the faith they teach.”
— Archbishop Richard W. Smith, Former GrACE Chairperson (2023)
A Movement of the Heart
A Movement of the Heart
A true movement begins in the soul of an individual.
It begins the moment someone chooses to give rather than receive — to ask not what Catholic education can do for them, but what they can do for the mission of Catholic education. That spark of conviction — quiet, humble, and faithful — is how every renewal begins.
When one person steps forward, the light spreads. When many do, a movement is born.
That movement is GrACE — a living witness that Catholic education is not sustained by entitlement but by witness, not by maintenance but by mission, not by expectation but by generosity of heart.
The GrACE Youth Summit: Listening, Adapting, and Moving Forward Together!
The GrACE Youth Summit, originally scheduled for October 24, 2025, has been postponed due to the current labour disruption. With 450 participants expected in person and another 350 online, the Summit depends heavily on teacher and chaperone support — commitments that cannot be secured at this time.
Following feedback from some school divisions noting that May 15, 2026, is a professional development day, GrACE is taking this opportunity to review and discern the most suitable date to ensure full representation and participation across Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon.
Our goal remains to choose a time that allows the widest possible engagement of students, staff, families, and parishes — so that the Summit truly reflects the unity and living faith of our Catholic community.
GrACE is deeply grateful for the understanding and support of our partners as we continue this conversation of faith and mission.
Further updates will be shared as discernment progresses and plans develop.
We look forward to gathering when full participation, shared witness, and lasting impact can once again be achieved.
2025-2026 Catholic Education Theme:
2025-2026 Catholic Education Theme:
Anchored in Christ, A Beacon of Hope
Anchored in Christ, A Beacon of Hope
(Hebrews 6:19)
(Hebrews 6:19)
This year’s theme for the new school year is more than a slogan—it’s a shift in posture. It challenges us to move from maintenance to mission, from protecting what we have to boldly proclaiming who we are. To be anchored in Christ is to place our trust not in changing trends or cultural approval, but in the unchanging truth of Jesus Christ and the sacramental life of the Church. To become beacons of hope means living and leading in a way that draws others toward that truth—with clarity, courage, and joy. In a time of uncertainty, Catholic education stands as a visible sign of conviction, compassion, and Christ-centred purpose.
GrACE Resources for 2025–2026
GrACE Resources for 2025–2026
Rooted in our 2025–2026 theme, GrACE offers a collection of resources to unify, inspire, and mobilize Catholic schools, parishes, and families across Alberta, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. These materials support our bold movement from maintenance to mission, grounded in faith, tradition, and shared witness.
Use Freely. Share Boldly. Witness Faithfully.
We invite you—educators, clergy, parents, and students—to integrate these tools into the life of your community. Whether in the classroom, the home, or the parish, may they help you live and proclaim the Good News with renewed courage and joy.
Thank you for your steadfast commitment to Catholic education—rooted in tradition, alert to the present, and open to God’s unfolding call. May these resources shine as beacons of hope in your ministry.
Explore GrACE resources for Catholic Education Week 2025 — Anchored in Christ, A Beacon of Hope
https://www.gracealberta.org/news-views/catholic-education-week
From Maintenance to Mission: You are the Movement
From Maintenance to Mission: You are the Movement
Catholic education does not sustain itself. It is not the responsibility of a select few—it is the responsibility of YOU.
The Sacred Triad of home, school, and parish is only as strong as the people who uphold it.
Policies, governance, and institutions cannot carry this mission alone—it requires each of us.
Join the mission - make your impact known.
Join the mission - make your impact known.
Check out how you can make a difference in our News & Views/Maintenance to Mission Tab.
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What's happening...
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GrACE Alberta
The Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton
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From Maintenance to Mission: You are the Movement
From Maintenance to Mission: You are the Movement
Catholic education does not sustain itself. It is not the responsibility of a select few—it is the responsibility of YOU.
The Sacred Triad of home, school, and parish is only as strong as the people who uphold it.
Policies, governance, and institutions cannot carry this mission alone—it requires each of us.
Join the movement. Be the movement.
Join the movement. Be the movement.
Check out how you can make a difference in our News & Views/Maintenance to Mission Tab.
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