THE OFFICE OF SCHOOL MINISTRY
School Minister: Mr. Matthew Wayock, MTS
wayock@bonnerprendie.com
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
His Eminence, Cardinal Justin Rigali,
Archbishop of Philadelphia
THE OFFICE OF SCHOOL MINISTRY
The Office of School Ministry, in particular, is concerned with the Catholic identity of our school. The School Minister and his staff attempts to create an atmosphere in which students and staff can grow deeper in their relationship with the Lord. The School Minister works with the students and faculty, providing spiritual guidance and counsel, and preparing the many liturgical celebrations throughout the year. The Student Ministry Team works with the School Minister by carrying out various tasks in the office. Students who wish to join the Ministry Team please notify Mr. Wayock.
In their Pastoral Letter, "To Teach as Jesus Did," the bishops of the United States have stated:
The Catholic School strives to relate all human culture eventually to the news of salvation, so that the life of faith will illuminate the knowledge which students gradually gain of the world, of life, and of mankind. Here, therefore, students are instructed in human knowledge and skills, valued indeed for their own worth but seen simultaneously as deriving their most profound significance from God’s plan for His creation.
Here, too, instruction in religious truth and values is an integral part of the school program. It is not one more subject alongside the rest, but instead is perceived and functions as the underlying reality in which the student’s experiences of learning and living achieve their coherence and their deepest meaning. (Par. 103
Saint Katharine Drexel Chapel
History of the Bonner and Prendergast Campus
On This Site:
1850 Christopher Fallon purchased the land to build an impressive mansion named Runnymede, perhaps as a refuge for Queen Isabella of Spain.
1882 Colonel Anthony J. Drexel purchased Runnymede. The estate became known as The Hill of Drexel, and the surrounding area as Drexel Hill.
1908 Fire destroyed the Drexel residence, leaving only the Gatehouse which is still standing.
1917 Archbishop Edmond Prendergast purchased the land for a new orphanage for 500 orphans who had to be relocated from Saint Vincent’s Home, which was demolished for the construction of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Architect Paul Monaghan created the “solid, graceful, colonial” St. Vincent’s Home.
The Sisters of Charity staffed the orphanage, under the patronage of their founder, St. Vincent de Paul.
1952 With the number of children in orphanages declining because of a new charity program, the home was converted into a boys’ high school named for Archbishop Prendergast.
1956 Prendergast became a high school for girls’ when the new Monsignor Bonner High School for Boys’ is completed.
2001 February 21, The chapel in Archbishop Prendergast High School was renamed in honor Saint Katharine Drexel. As the property formerly belonged to her uncle, Anthony Drexel it is likely that Katharine visited these grounds in her youth. Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, presided over the ceremonies and Liturgy