Filing into the chapel, adorned in formal attire, the junior class gathered together on Monday morning to celebrate Mass with and welcome the new Archbishop of St. Louis, Mitchell Rozanski, to the halls of St. Louis U. High. 

Installed as the 10th Archbishop of the archdiocese of St. Louis last August, Rozanski had previously served in his hometown of Baltimore, Md. as a diocesan priest and auxiliary bishop in the diocese for 30 years. He then served as the bishop of the diocese of Springfield Massachusetts for six years before being assigned as the Archbishop of St. Louis last June.

“I am a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and I am just so impressed by the similarities between the archdiocese of Baltimore and the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Both Archdioceses are very steeped in the Catholic tradition, both have been centers of Catholicism, Baltimore for the east coast, St. Louis for the midwest,” said Rozanski. “I have found great faith here in St. Louis amongst the people and even amidst the COVID to get out to the parishes and highschools has been a great privilege.”

“I have found great faith here in St. Louis amongst the people and even amidst the COVID to get out to the parishes and highschools has been a great privilege.”

Archbishop Rozanski

Rozanski paid his first pastoral visit to the Backer Memorial Campus last October. He had lunch with principal Ian Gibbons, S.J.,  SLUH president Alan Carruthers, and other administrators and was given a tour of the campus. After his visit, Rozanski reached out to SLUH asking if they would be interested in hosting him for a Mass during Catholic Schools week. The administration quickly leaped at this opportunity and invited him to come and say a Mass at SLUH.

“We are very grateful that he reached out to us and that we could set this Mass up,” said Gibbons. “This is something that he did with all the schools (setting up a Mass) but we were one of the first schools he contacted which is really great.” 

Having the Archbishop preside at an all school Mass was the intent of the SLUH administration, however due to Covid-19 safety guidelines, plans had to be changed and they settled on having the Archbishop celebrate Mass for the junior class.

“With the challenges of having everyone back and also having to focus on being able to move people around the building and get fed for lunch, we felt that it wouldn’t be possible to do an all school liturgy,” said Gibbons. “We wanted to focus on the juniors because other groups have been able to have key moments and the juniors have lost a lot so we wanted this to be a real leadership moment for them.” 

During Academic Lab on Monday, the whole junior class gathered together in the chapel to celebrate Mass with the new Catholic leader of St. Louis. This was the first time the whole junior class had gathered together since last March. 

“I think it was special in of itself to have the whole class together for the first time in a while and for that to be a Mass in which the Archbishop presided over was even more special,” said junior AJ Thompson. “It's cool to have the head of our archdiocese at our school, especially in our chapel celebrating Mass.”

The Mass was led by the Junior Pastoral Team; members of the team held different roles such as lectoring, being music ministers and serving. The whole Mass was orchestrated and planned by Hill, who wanted to ensure a reverent Mass. 

“I thought the Mass went very well,” said Hill. “The students really seemed engaged and the liturgy flowed very smoothly.”

“Before the Mass when we were getting vested, he impressed me with how normal he was, he seemed to be just a down-to-earth and genuine guy,” said junior JP Torack, a server at Mass.

Rozanski’s homily was focused on the theme that even when there doesn’t seem to be much good in the world, we are called to be the good and share that goodness with others. Rozanski was impressed by the reverence displayed by the junior class and the attentiveness they showed. 

“I was so pleased today to celebrate with you and to see the reverence, the participation that everybody showed at Mass, the beauty of the music, and the real respect that I felt for the Lord and for the Blessed sacrament here at Mass,” said Rozanski. “ I feel that the students here really show that they understand what our faith is about because of the reverence that they have given at Mass.”

During his visit, Rozanski was impressed by the faith he saw within the SLUH community and the vibrant community that he witnessed. 

“In your four years at SLUH you are given great opportunities, especially the opportunity to discern where the Lord is calling you in life, so always pray for that openness of heart to the Lord’s will, to the Lord’s call to you and that whatever vocation the Lord is calling you to, that you may respond with a generous heart, with all of the knowledge and formation you have gained at SLUH,” said Rozanski. “SLUH really is such a great school.”