Benefit show to raise funds for Catholic education

The Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) is staging a Christmas benefit show to raise funds for poor but deserving students to continue attending Catholic schools.

This is due to the continued decrease in the number of enrollees in parochial schools.

“Although it has been our joy and privilege to be serving and forming these young people, the financial cost of maintaining our schools has been a heavy burden for the Archdiocese,” Manila Archbishop Luís Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle said in a CBCP News post.

He said the enrollment in RCAM’s parochial schools has gone down by three percent in the last five years, with poor students opting to transfer to public schools.

“We are afraid that this trend would con- tinue and would therefore deprive many of our young people good Catholic education and formation. We can, however, stem the tide. With your help, we can raise funds to provide students with scholarships or financial aid,” said Tagle.

RCAM runs 27 schools that offer basic to tertiary education, with a third of its roughly 30,000 students receiving scholarship or financial assistance.

According to Tagle, Catholic education is one of the primary works of the Catholic Church so that young people will learn about faith and also grow in Christian virtue.

It is for these reasons that His Eminence is appealing to the public to support the benefit concert.

The Patron of the Arts, the RCAM’s yearly Christmas benefit show, is organized by the Jesuit Communications Foundation Inc. (JesCom) and will be held at the Meralco Theater in Pasig City on December 12, 2014.