Four students from St. Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland had a rare opportunity on Jan. 29 when they enjoyed lunch with Archbishop-designate Nelson Perez and chatted with him for nearly an hour. The lunchtime meeting was among the last events for the Archbishop-designate before he leaves Cleveland next month to be installed on Feb. 18 as the new Archbishop of Philadelphia.
The corporate work-study students – senior Anthony Walcott, junior Adrianna Anderson, sophomore Destiny Miller and freshman Sadie Gay – are interning this school year at the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
St. Martin de Porres is Cleveland’s Cristo Rey high school. Students are required to complete a corporate work-study program to help pay their tuition. Area businesses, organizations and nonprofits partner with the school to provide jobs for the students. They work one day per week and rotate Fridays between work and school. The work-study program makes the dream of receiving a college preparatory education at the Catholic high school a reality for students of modest means.
The diocesan interns are supervised by Jen D’Amico of the Human Resources Office. “They work on projects for the Education, Human Resources and Benefits offices, as well as assisting the Catholic Community Foundation, Archives and Tribunal. They also assist with managing our jobs board,” she said.
Tracey Arnone, associate superintendent of schools for the diocese, said she and Mary Ann Blakely, executive director of human resources for the diocese, visited St. Martin de Porres recently for a lunch program the school hosted for its corporate work-study partners.
“It was such a treat,” Arnone said, noting that different floors of the school were set up to recognize Cristo Rey Network schools in other states and to celebrate them with activities and food popular in the various cities.
Accompanying the students to lunch with the Archbishop-designate were Shameka Jones Taylor, vice president of work study at St. Martin de Porres, and Chaz Napoli, the school president.
“Let’s hear about you,” Archbishop-designate Perez said to the students, asking them to share their future plans and thoughts about their work-study experiences.
Anthony said he’s hoping to enroll at Kent State University to study zoology. After spending freshman year at another high school, he transferred to St. Martin de Porres. “They push you to do your best and I feel I’m better for it,” he added. He said his internship gives him a sense of accomplishment when he helps people.
His interest in zoology intensified when he was able to get a behind-the-scenes look at the animal hospital and new animal integration areas at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, thanks to networking with D’Amico, whose brother works at the zoo.
As a sophomore, Destiny said she hasn’t decided on a college yet but she is interested in interior design and nursing. She is assisting in the Education Office. She describes herself as shy and noted that her internship has helped her learn to be a better communicator.
Adrianna, who is interested in a possible photography career, is doing research for the Human Resources Office by visiting websites for other dioceses and archdioceses to get insight on things that could improve the HR webpage here. She said she’s looking at the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Art Academy of Cincinnati to further her education.
Sadie said John Carroll University or Youngstown State University are among the colleges she’s considering.
The students were interested in how and why the archbishop-designate became a bishop. He explained that he felt called to the priesthood, so he approached the Church to see if that lifestyle would suit him.
“I fell in love with Jesus Christ,” he said, noting that he wanted to share the Lord’s vision with others as a priest. As far as becoming a bishop, that’s a one-sided thing, he said. “They come to you – they don’t ask you.” Archbishop-designate Perez said he will always be a priest – even if the day comes that he is not able to do everything he can now.
“Do you ever doubt yourself?” one student asked.
“About every other minute,” the Archbishop-designate quipped. But he said it’s because of his faith that he feels that way. “You can’t doubt that which you don’t believe.”
They talked about dreams and Archbishop-designate Perez recalled handing out report cards when he was pastor of a parish in Philadelphia. One boy had three Fs. When asked what he wanted to do for a career, he said, “I want to be a doctor.”
The Archbishop-designate told him something needed to change. “Either you need to improve your grades or find another dream. You can’t be a doctor with three Fs,” he said.
He also told the students about a plaque in his office that reads: “You can’t make chicken salad without chicken.” You can make something similar, but it’s not chicken salad – no matter what you think, he explained.
When asked his favorite thing about being the bishop of Cleveland, he said meeting people and visiting schools and parishes. He especially enjoys outreach to young adults – both formally and informally. “The role of a bishop is to be out and about. There’s also an administrative role, but much of that is delegated,” he said, noting he is in the office about 40% of the time and out in the diocese the rest of the time.
It will be difficult to leave Cleveland, he told the group, because he was welcomed so warmly here and feels at home.
“There’s no training school for bishops,” he said. “I learned here and when I go to Philadelphia, I will take the framework I learned with me and apply it there.”
Napoli pointed out that today’s youth seem more service-oriented and less inclined towards structured religion. The Archbishop-designate agreed, adding that society is more secular – especially in the United States.
“But you can’t ignore the spiritual dimension of people,” he said. “It needs to be fed just like the physical dimension.” There are consequences (death) if you don’t have air, water and food, he explained. But the soul also needs nourishment. And there are consequences to the secularization of society.
“We’ve made ourselves the center of it all. We decide when life begins – it’s all about our opinion,” he said, connecting that thought to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s order – something that had consequences we still are dealing with, he said. And the popularity of social media is leading to an increasingly more isolated, lonely society, he observed.
Napoli noted that he has visited secular schools that display “Golden Rules” that are essentially what Catholics know as the Ten Commandments. “The themes are the same,” he said, pointing out things like respecting others – things with a religious foundation that are part of a secular organization.
“I think we’ll see a shift some time,” the Archbishop-designate said.
“We’ll never forget you,” Arnone told Archbishop-designate Perez. “You were only here for 2½ years, much like Jesus, whose public life only lasted three years – but what an impact.”
The first Cristo Rey Network school opened in 2000 in Chicago, Illinois as a partnership with the Jesuits. St. Martin de Porres opened its doors in 2004 – after nearly four years of planning -- on Cleveland’s East Side. There now are 35 Cristo Rey schools across the country.