The Edmonton Catholic Schools Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the names of our new schools:
- Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic High School (Dunluce/Castle Downs)
- St. Josephine Bakhita Catholic Elementary/Junior High School (Lewis Farms/Secord)
"What spectacular namesakes and role models these two people provide for our Edmonton Catholic Schools community," shared Board Chair Sandra Palazzo. "Blessed Carlo Acutis was a young millennial who was passionate about God and technology and found a way to unite those passions to make the world a better place. St. Josephine Bakhita was a strong Black woman who clearly demonstrates the power of faith, endurance, and forgiveness in the face of unbelievable adversity."
Both schools received construction funding in March 2022, and crews are preparing the site for construction which will begin later this year.
Blessed Carlo Acutis was a young Catholic from Italy. He was devout in his faith, an amateur computer enthusiast, known for his focus on the Eucharist, and cufor rating a website of Eucharistic miracles before his death in 2006. Permitted to receive his first Holy Communion unusually early, Carlo spent much of his time working with the elderly, homeless, and young people, becoming a catechist at just 11 years old. Diagnosed with Leukemia at age 15, Carlo died shortly after, "offering up his suffering for the Pope and the Church."
In 2020, Carlo became the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church and is now one step away from canonization as a saint.
The Feast Day for Blessed Carlo Acutis is October 12, and he is a patron of computer programmers, youth, and World Youth Day 2023.
Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic High School
- Location: 115 St & 153 Ave (West of Castle Downs YMCA)
- Capacity: 1330
- Anticipated Opening: September 2026
St. Josephine Bakhita was born in 1868 in the village of Olgossa, Darfur (Sudan). As a child, she was kidnapped by slave traders and was given the name Bakhita which means "lucky" or "fortunate." She endured the horrors of slavery before she attained freedom in Italy. There, Josephine became a nun with the Canossian Daughters of Charity and lived and worked with them for 45 years.
Pope John Paul II shared the following words when he beatified Sister Josephine Bakhita in 1992:
"Josephine Bakhita, in her humility and total abandonment in God, teaches us not only to work and to pray but, above all, to trust. From her painful experiences, she had learned, with God's grace, to have complete trust in him, who is present always and everywhere, and therefore to be constantly and with everyone good and generous."
The Feast Day for St. Josephine Bakhita is February 8, and she is the patron saint of Sudan and human trafficking survivors.
St. Josephine Bakhita Catholic Elementary/Junior High School
- Location: Secord Dr & 93 Ave NW
- Capacity: 950
- Anticipated Opening: September 2025
Naming of New Schools
As per Administrative Procedure 544 - Naming of Facilities, the Division has established a list of names for schools and Division facilities that are in keeping with the policies and procedures of the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, which has been approved by Archbishop Smith. The Division also issued a call to our community to make suggestions, and those names that fit the criteria were submitted to His Grace for approval.
Site blessings for Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic High School and St. Josephine Bakhita Catholic Elementary/Junior High School will take place this Spring.
