Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic Superintendent Douglas Yack
Area 2 Phone +1 416-393-5555 | Founded 1989 Area trustee Frank D'Amico
Ward 6 Province Ontario | |
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School type Bill 30 Catholic High School Motto Community, Justice, and Knowledge Address 99 Humber Blvd S, York, ON M6N 2H4, Canada District Toronto Catholic District School Board School board Toronto Catholic District School Board Profiles | ||
Blessed Archbishop Romero Catholic Secondary School (acronym as BARCSS, Blessed Archbishop Romero, Blessed Archbishop Romero CSS, or in short Romero), operated as Archbishop Romero Catholic Secondary School until 2015 is a Catholic high school part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. located in York, Ontario, a municipality of Toronto housed in the York Board of Education (later merged into the Toronto District School Board)'s York Humber High School building. It is named after Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980.
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Hero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador and became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980.
After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Monsignor Arturo Rivera. In 1997, a cause for beatification and canonization was opened for Romero, and Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God. The canonization process continues. He is considered by some the unofficial patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador and is often referred to as "San Romero" by Catholics in El Salvador. Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other religious denominations of Christendom, including the Church of England through the Calendar in Common Worship. He is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London, a testament to the wide respect for him even beyond the Catholic Church. In 2008, he was chosen as one of the 15 Champions of World Democracy by the Europe-based magazine A Different View.
School
Established in 1989 as the first Catholic high school in the City of York, the original school consisted of 200 grade 9 students, 18 teachers and three support staff members housed in what was previously York Humber High School which was opened in 1967 and relocated in 1991. November 1992 marked the start of a $12-million construction project that transformed the original building into a state-of-the-art facility. At a special ceremony on May 7, 1995 the school was officially opened and blessed.
With the namesake beatified in May 2015, the school was renamed to Blessed Archbishop Romero Catholic Secondary School shortly afterwards.
Chaplaincy
All of Romero students are required to take a course in Religious Studies each year, but the faith formation does not end there as its chaplaincy program that organizes numerous and varied retreats for every grade level. As well, Romero's chaplaincy team provides many opportunities for their staff and students to continually develop their faith life through worship as a community both in small and large group settings.
Being a Catholic community, they are committed to fostering the Christian values and principles inspired by their patron Archbishop Oscar Romero.