Philadelphia archdiocese will close 48 Catholic schools | Catholic Culture
Friday, January 06, 2012
The Philadelphia archdiocese plans to close 48 Catholic schools, as part of a sweeping program designed to restore economic stability to an endangered parochial-school system.
Four Catholic high schools will be closed, and 44 primary schools will be closed or folded into other existing Catholic schools. The closings were recommended by a blue-ribbon committee that was formed in December 2010 by Cardinal Justin Rigali to study the long-term financial needs of the Catholic school system. The changes were necessary because of steadily rising educational costs and a slowdown in student enrollment, the committee found.
Archbishop Charles Chaput, who succeeded Cardinal Rigali in Philadelphia last year, had warned of painful changes, and encouraged the blue-ribbon committee to act decisively. “Nostalgia for the past is a bad foundation if we want to think clearly and build creatively for the future,” he said