More than 1,100 people will celebrate Catholic schools at the 3rd annual Archdiocese of Baltimore Gala Saturday, October 22, 2011, at 6 p.m. at the Baltimore Convention Center. The event is expected to raise $700,000 in tuition assistance for students attending Catholic schools.
The event will also pay tribute to Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, 15th Archbishop of Baltimore, who was appointed in August to a Vatican position, Grand Master of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. Archbishop O’Brien dedicated much of his four years in Baltimore to making Catholic schools more accessible to Catholic children and to those from our more impoverished communities.
The program will feature CBS News and 60 Minutes correspondent Byron Pitts as the keynote speaker. Mr. Pitts is also the author of Stepping out on Nothing, a book that chronicles his difficult path from East Baltimore where he attended St. Katharine’s Catholic School and Archbishop Curley High School and overcame illiteracy to become one of the most successful professionals in his industry.
Archbishop O’Brien will also announce the results of a recent accreditation review of the Archdiocese’s Catholic school system.