Superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools Dr. Carmen Himenes, top, president of Chaminade University of Honolulu Dr. Sue Wesselkamper, right

Hawaii’s top two Catholic educators will be among those present when Pope Benedict XVI delivers a one-hour address on Catholic education April 17 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

The superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools Dr. Carmen Himenes and the president of Chaminade University of Honolulu Dr. Sue Wesselkamper will join their counterparts from every U.S. diocese and archdiocese attending the historic event at the pope’s request.

While the specific topic of the talk has not been announced, the two from Hawaii expect a message of challenge and affirmation.

Carmen Himenes believes Benedict’s special attention to Catholic school educators shows the value he puts on their work and ministry.

She anticipates his message will be a confirmation of their mission “to speak the message of Jesus” in a world that has become increasingly secular and apathetic regarding the faith.

“I am a little humbled” that the pope has chosen Catholic educators for a special session, she said.

“There is going to be a challenge there and I except that,” she said. “We are not just going to be patted on the back.”

But the fact that the pope is putting Catholic education in the spotlight is “awesome,” she said.

Himenes said that the pope’s focus on Catholic schools “models for us the role that Catholic education must play in the evangelizing mission of the church.”

Chaminade University’s president also awaits “words of support and encouragement.”

Wesselkamper hopes the pope will speak about “the challenge and opportunity of being a Catholic university in a pluralistic society.”

A Catholic university is a “crossroads where faith meets culture,” she said, and with that comes a “wonderful opportunity to engage and challenge students.”

While living in a secular culture, Wesselkamper said she has seen the “tremendous spiritual depth of many of our students.”

“I can’t tell you how open most of our students are to the religious experiences” offered by Chaminade, she said. Besides academics, that would include retreats, community service, and discussions of values and ethics, the university president said.

“That’s what makes it so exciting to work in a Catholic university,” she said.

Wesselkamper also hopes Pope Benedict “recognizes the contributions of the religious orders” who sponsor many Catholic institutions of higher learning in the U.S.

Richard Yanikoski, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in Washington, speculated that the fact that the pope is not planning to address parish religious educators in this gathering might indicate that he means to narrow his focus solely on the “positive contributions” Catholic schools makes to the church and society.

Yanikoski noted that the pope’s address is scheduled for television broadcast, and said that suggests the pope “has a larger audience in mind” and will most likely give a “positive, inclusive statement.”

Karen Ristau, president of the National Catholic Educational Association in Washington, said she expected the gathering with Pope Benedict will give educators a lot of encouragement, as did the meeting she attended with Pope John Paul in 1987.

The fact that he is taking time during a limited visit to meet with them, she said, is a “very strong statement about how important Catholic education is.”

While the meeting does not allow time for give-and-take, Himenes said, that if she were given a chance, she would give the pope “our aloha” and “thank him for his support.”

This will not be the first time a pope has visited Catholic University which the U.S. bishops established in 1887 as their national university. In 1979, during his first trip to the United States as pope, Pope John Paul II went there to address theologians, scholars and presidents of Catholic colleges and universities.

In his speech he defended academic freedom for theologians but warned that they should not spread theories that might be confusing or troubling to Catholics. He also thanked Catholic university leaders for their role in educating and evangelizing and for their dedication “despite immense financial strain, enrollment problems and other obstacles.”

Eight years later, Pope John Paul again addressed Catholic higher education officials and a group of about 1,800 Catholic elementary and secondary teachers and religious educators in New Orleans.

His meeting with Catholic college and university leaders was held at Xavier University in Louisiana, the only historically black Catholic university in the United States.