Editor's note: Thanks to our friends at the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education for sharing the following article as we mark the passing of Bishop Joseph McFadden. This article was written by Father Tim Scully, C.S.C. who is currently the Hackett Family Director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives. Fr. Scully is a professor of political science who co-founded ACE in 1993. LMH

Bishop Joseph McFadden Bishop Joseph McFadden

Catholic schools and their students lost a singular witness to hope last week with Bishop Joseph McFadden’s passing into eternal life. Through a lifetime of joyful service as a teacher, coach, pastor, bishop, and mentor, Bishop McFadden embodied the Good News and inspired all those who knew him to do the same.

In his ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Diocese of Harrisburg, and the USCCB Committee on Catholic Education, Bishop McFadden served as a catalyst for the transformation of K-12 Catholic education throughout the United States. In the face of unprecedented challenge, he was a passionate and prophetic voice for the indispensable role that Catholic schools can and must play as agents of the common good – tirelessly inviting us all to “put out into the deep” to renew these national treasures.

Read the entire article on the ACE Website here.

Copyright 2013 Rev. Timothy R. Scully, CSC