Faith & Catholicity

Catholicity has always been the cornerstone of Cathedral High School. In 1918, Bishop Joseph Chartrand promoted the creation of an all-male Catholic high school for a city that already boasted three Catholic girls' academies. The word cathedral comes from the Latin "cathedra" which means the Bishop's chair; wherever the chair, there too was the church.

Theology Curriculum

Four years of theology classes are a graduation requirement for all Cathedral students. Courses in scripture, morality, world religions, church history, social justice, adult living, and marriage complete the theology curriculum. The basic tenets of the Catholic faith explained in theology class are frequently inserted into discussions in literature, history, current affairs, and biology.

All students are required to enroll in a religion course each semester:

9th Grade: God Speaks To His People. An introduction to sacred scripture with an emphasis on the Old Testament.
10th Grade: The Word Made Flesh. The person of Jesus is explored through the New Testament writings in the first semester and the moral implications of Jesus' message in the second semester, with an emphasis on the sacrifice of the Mass.
11th Grade: Christ's Church in the World. Examination of the major faith traditions of the world as overlaid to Christianity and the great figure in Christian history.
12th Grade: The Contemporary Christian. A study of social justice as the theme of the first semester with an emphasis on self-esteem, mature development of relationships, and communication skills based on Christian principles.

Retreats / Days of Recollection

Campus ministry organizes Freshman and Sophomore days of recollection, two Junior girls' overnights and two Junior boys' overnights, and an extensive program of six Senior Christian Awakening retreats. Click here to visit our Campus Ministry section to find out more information on our days of recollection and retreats.

Freshman Day of Recollection (held in October) is a day centered on the theme of trust.
Sophomore Day of Recollection (held four times per year at Fatima) is centered upon the important values in life and the theme of journeying.
Junior Men's and Ladies' Overnight Retreats (separate, and held three times per year for each group at CYO Camp in Bloomington) are centered upon the important values in life and the theme of journeying.
Senior Christian Awakening Retreats (held six times per year at St. Bernadette Parish) are an extended experience of Christian community where college-age alumni and adults serve as leaders.

Service Outreach

Each student will be asked to develop a service portfolio during hir or her four years at Cathedral which will include service hours, service reflections, and service learning projects. Upon graduation, our students will have service experiences totaling one hundred service hours of humanitarian works in our extended community. In order to accomplish this total of one hundred hours, our students are required to accumulate twenty five service hours each year. To find out more about our service outreach program click here.

Spiritual Companion Program

The spiritual companion program was developed by Mrs. Koehler. It is a one-on-one relationship with an adult prepared to deal with spiritual matters, that reaches out to all students in need. These meetings are confidential and designed to find a member of our staff that a student feels comfortable with. This program was designed to allows students to talk about things such as relationships, prayer, family, and church life with a caring adult. Click here to find out more information on the Spiritual Companion Program.