Catholic school students, their teachers, and their communities throughout the 19-county Archdiocese of Cincinnati are celebrating the 45th annual Catholic Schools Week from January 27 through February 2 under the theme “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.”

More than 1,000 representatives from Greater Cincinnati Catholic schools will participate on Tuesday, January 29, as Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Binzer presides at a special 10 a.m. Catholic Schools Week Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains in downtown Cincinnati. A procession of students carrying school banners will begin at 9:40 a.m. Archbishop Schnurr will preside at a Mass for students from Dayton and the Northern Region at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 30, at St. Luke in Beavercreek with a procession beginning at 9:40 a.m.

***Due to the extreme cold, the Catholic Schools Week Mass at St. Luke in Beavercreek has been cancelled.***

The 111 Catholic elementary and high schools in the Archdiocese will mark the week with special programs, such as open houses for parents and grandparents, out-of-uniform days, service projects, Masses, talent shows, special decorations, student-faculty games and entertainment.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 44th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with more than 450,000 Catholics, and has the fifth largest Catholic school system in terms of enrollment with more than 40,000 students. The 19-county territory includes 211 parishes and 111 Catholic primary and secondary schools.