Our Faith

Renewing the Promise

"Our Catholic schools offer an extraordinary contribution to the social and environmental fabric of our society and world.  In partnership with parents, who bear the primary responsibility for the education of their children, all those who work in Catholic education are called upon to reflect, in a faithful and discerning fashion, God's presence in this world."

(Source:  Renewing the Promise a Pastoral Letter for Catholic Education, May 2018)

Find the Pastoral Letter for Catholic Education "Renewing the Promise" here.

Our Catholic Schools

Our Catholic schools provide a faith based education rooted in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  We challenge each student to meet Ontario's Catholic Graduate Expectations  by promoting their spiritual development with an emphasis on social justice and Catholic Social Teachings.  We believe that this formation will not only serve our students today, but also in the future as they contribute positively to our society in the service of others.

As a school district, we are guided by the principles of Excellence, Equity and New Evangelization.  Each year we identify an essential element of New Evangelization, through a spiritual theme, to focus our faith formation initiatives.  This year we will focus on the spiritual theme of joy.

Welcome to a Year of Joy (2018-2019)

"Our Catholic schools help form joyful disciples as hearts and minds are opened to the transforming love of God and to the flame of faith in action.  On a daily basis, Catholic schools demonstrate the joy of believing and witness the Good News to the communities they serve." (Renewing the Promise, page 13)

Inspired by Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) (2013) and Renewing the Promise a Pastoral Letter for Catholic Education (2018) our school communities will explore the true meaning of joy, recognizing joy as a gift/fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Through scripture and the celebration of the Eucharist, our school communities will place an emphasis on encountering Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, our source of joy.  We will also extend that notion of joy, beyond the personal encounter, to our relationship with others as we spread the Good News in both word and deed.

Year of Joy artwork

Based on Psalm 100, Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS, created the following digital painting in honour of our Year of Joy:

 “My idea here is that it is in the very nature of all creation to always make a joyful noise to the Lord…. that we need to quiet ourselves down to hear it. The three flowers represent the Holy Trinity (and the Holy Family). The brown band at the bottom is the land of Canada, while the stream of water represents Lake Ontario and the other waterways of Ontario. I situated the Board logo so that the lantern appears to be a boat ready to be launched. Lastly, and most importantly, of course, is the Canadian maple leaf on the breath of the Holy Spirit.”

 Brother Michael O'Neill McGrath, OSFS 

New Evangelization

"The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love. Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are 'disciples' and 'missionaries', but rather that we are always 'missionary disciples'."

(120) Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) (2013) 

Year of Service Video (2017-2018) 

Year of Community Video (2016-2017)

Year of Witness Videos (2015-2016)

Opening the Doors of Mercy

Watch our video and learn how Durham Catholic secondary school students share how they are opening the Doors of Mercy and helping others in our local communities.

Our parishes

We partner with our local parishes to strengthen the relationship between school, home and church.

Contact us

To learn more about New Evangelization, call us at 905-576-6150 ext. 22238.