Catholic Education Week

Catholic Education Week for 2025 is May 25 - 31, 2025, and World Catholic Education Day is May 29 (Ascension Thursday).

Each year, Catholic schools in Saskatchewan participate in a week-long celebration to remember and share the gift of Catholic education. Join over 47,000 students in Saskatchewan—more than 23,000 with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools—to celebrate the gift of Catholic faith-based education.

The theme for Catholic Education Week 2025 is:

Catholic Education: Pilgrims of Hope
L’éducation catholique: Pèlerins de l’espérance

Pope Francis designated the theme "Pilgrims of Hope" for the jubilee year of 2025. Hope—one of the three theological virtues—is grounded in our Easter faith in Jesus’ resurrection and renewal. Pope Francis invited us to keep moving ahead in faith, in joy, and in hope, as part of a pilgrim people. A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey of movement toward a goal, often lived together with others—and that certainly describes Catholic education.

The five weekdays of Catholic Education Week focus on various themes of hope that Pope Francis emphasized during his papacy.

• Monday, May 26: Honouring human dignity / Honorent la dignité humaine
• Tuesday, May 27: Caring for creation / Prennent soin de la création
• Wednesday, May 28: Responding to the poverties in our world / Luttent contre les pauvretés
• Thursday, May 29: Serving in solidarity / Servent en solidarité
• Friday, May 30: Living as peacemakers / Vivent en artisans de paix

Prayers

Monday: Honouring human dignity

Good and gracious God,
Be with us as we journey together as Pilgrims of Hope and builders of peace,
sowing seeds of faith, hope, and love along the way.
Be with us as we walk together and share this journey.
Bless the path on which we travel and be our guiding light from above.
Help us treat each other as your beloved.
Let us honour human dignity as we welcome everyone into our communities
with open hearts of love and kindness.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Tuesday: Caring for creation

Loving God,
Thank you for the wonderful world you have created.
Help us to love and respect the Earth,
to care for the plants, the animals, and the people.
Give us the courage and grace
to protect our common home each day.
Show us how to be lights in the world,
guided by faith, love, wisdom, and hope.
We ask this through Jesus, our brother, friend, and teacher.
Amen.

Wednesday: Responding to the poverties in our world 

God of love and mercy,
God of empathy and compassion,
We strive to love others as we are loved by you.
Give us hearts of compassion, that our pilgrim journey of hope
finds us stopping to be there for others along the way.
Strengthen us in becoming Your Hope in the face of all poverty faced by people.
May our hope in you continue to guide us and light our way.
We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, our light and hope.
Amen.

Thursday: Serving in solidarity 

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for guiding us each day, as we walk together on this journey of life.
Help us to walk in solidarity with one another, supporting and loving each other as You taught us.
Teach us to share hope and kindness with everyone we meet along the way.
Help us to be friends to those who are lonely, and to bring joy to those who are sad.
Mary, our Mother, walk with us, and show us how to be pilgrims of hope.
Guide our steps with your gentle hand and keep us close to your loving heart.
May we always follow the light of your love, bringing peace and goodness to the world.
Amen.

Friday: Living as peacemakers

God of love,
You sent your Son, Jesus, to show us how to be peaceful people.
We pray for peace in our world, peace in our relationships, and peace in our hearts.
Jesus, Prince of Peace, where there is conflict and tension,
show us the way to be peacemakers and peace-givers.
Help us to speak with words that calm and heal.
As pilgrims of hope, may your peace be the path we walk,
and the goal toward which we journey each day.
We ask this, God of peace, in the name of Jesus, our Lord.
Amen.