What was the one moment or experience that gave rise to the Cristo Rey Network?
The Jesuits of the then Chicago Province (now the Chicago-Detroit Province) approached Cardinal Joseph Bernardine in Chicago to ask if they could do something for the Hispanic population of the city. The Cardinal offered them a parish in the Pilsen neighbourhood, a heavily Hispanic area on the near southwest side and the Jesuits began canvassing the neighbourhood to find out their biggest educational need, where their efforts could make the greatest difference.
It became apparent that the most pressing need was for a college preparatory high school. There were at the time 10,000 young people in Pilsen with only two public schools to serve them. The first school founded by the Jesuits began in Pilsen 1996, and within a few years there were requests for similar schools in other parts of the country, and that was the beginning of the Cristo Rey Network.
