Florida Catholic | Head Of The Class

Head of the class

Former teacher, now Archbishop John C. Favalora, is honored by Catholic Educators Guild.

MARLENE QUARONI | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 07.02.08

Marjorie P. Wessel, president of the Catholic Educators Guild, presents Archbishop John C. Favalora with the group's Lumen Christi (Light of Christ) award.

MARLENE QUARONI | FC
Marjorie P. Wessel, president of the Catholic Educators Guild, presents Archbishop John C. Favalora with the group’s Lumen Christi (Light of Christ) award.

MIAMI | Archbishop John C. Favalora said he did not know a thing about biology when he entered a classroom at St. John Vianney Prep School in New Orleans to teach a biology class in the late 1960s.

“The biology teacher, Sister Norbert, had to have neck surgery and someone was needed to teach her class,” the archbishop recalled June 22 after being honored with this year’s Lumen Christi (Light of Christ) award by the Catholic Educators Guild.

“I was certified in Latin, social studies and religion, not biology. Somehow I found a way to teach the class. I made sure I was always one page ahead of the students. Sometimes I’d ask the smartest kid in the class to answer a difficult question or lead the class in dissecting piglets.”

It shows that if you are interested in teaching you can find ways to help students learn, the archbishop said.

“I heard that a couple of those biology students went on to become doctors, but that had nothing to do with me,” he joked.

Ordained in Rome in 1961, Archbishop Favalora obtained a secondary school certification from Xavier University in New Orleans, attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and received a master’s degree in education from Tulane University in New Orleans. Before being made a bishop, he worked as a pastor, high school principal and teacher, vocations director and rector-president of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

He said he spent most of his nearly 47 years as a priest in classrooms and enjoys the classroom atmosphere. “When I go into a classroom, it’s hard to get me out of there.”

Marjorie P. Wessel, president of the Catholic Educators Guild, said because of his rich background in education, and the fact that the Archdiocese of Miami is celebrating its golden jubilee, it was fitting that the archbishop should receive the award this year.

“His vision is extraordinary,” said Wessel. “Thanks to him, we remember, we celebrate, we believe.”

Some of the others who have received the award since it was first given out in 1969 are Don Shula, former Miami Dolphins head coach; Dominican Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, former president of Barry University; Miami’s late Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy; and retired Auxiliary Bishop Agustin A. Roman.

The Catholic Educators Guild was founded in 1960 at the request of Miami’s first archbishop, Coleman F. Carroll. Its goal is to provide Catholics who are working in the field of education an opportunity for spiritual development and to enhance the education of students in both public and private schools.

Richard De Aguero, a 1987 Lumen Christi award recipient and a public school teacher for 45 years, said Catholic educators must set an example for their students.

“You can teach your faith by the way you live your life,” De Aguero said. “You teach by the way you accept responsibility as a teacher and a parent.”

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