The biggest thing in Catholic education
On Sept. 5, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Fort Wayne, already one of the largest in the diocese, grew some more with the dedication and blessing of a new wing that provided individual classrooms for the school’s Spanish, French and health teachers and made possible, for the first time in the school’s history, kindergarten.
This embellished student body, numbering now at 774, gathered in the St. Vincent de Paul gymnasium for an assembly, in which St. Vincent pastor Father John Kuzmich first welcomed Bishop John M. D’Arcy.
Father John Kuzmich
Father Kuzmich told the student body how, the day before, he had visited each kindergarten classroom, asking the students who was coming to the school tomorrow. When one student finally replied, “Bishop D’Arcy,” Father Kuzmich related that he had told the student he was right and asked who Bishop D’Arcy was, to which the student replied, “Your boss.”
The student body laughed as Father Kuzmich noted that the bishop is “a nice boss.”
Bishop D’Arcy also addressed the student body, noting St. Vincent parish’s strength in attracting new people to Catholic faith every year, in charitable giving to less fortunate parishes and schools, both in the diocese and in Latin America, and in attracting more priestly vocations than any other diocesan parish at this time. This was received with loud applause.
Bishop D’Arcy then joined Father Kuzmich and the rest of the students, teachers, staff and parents gathered in a prayer of dedication.
St. Vincent School prays at the dedication of its new wing.
After the dedication prayer, Bishop D’Arcy joined Father Kuzmich, St. Vincent associate pastor Father Jason Freiburger and superintendent of Catholic schools, Father Steve Kempinger, on a walk-through of the new addition, blessing students and classrooms as they went.
Bishop D'Arcy and Father Jason Freiburger bless a classroom in the new addition of St. Vincent School, Fort Wayne.
This eventually took them to the school library, which, thanks to the addition, is now handicap accessible.
Bishop John M. D'Arcy blesses the library at St. Vincent School, Fort Wayne.