Vicksburg Catholic Schools had a distinguished guest for its final schoolwide Mass of the year.

Bishop Joseph Kopacz of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson visited the school and oversaw what was also St. Aloysius Principal Michele Connelly’s final mass before she takes over as executive director of the United Way of West Central Mississippi.

Kopacz said that the he was eager to visit Vicksburg Catholic Schools, highlighting the Church’s educational arm as a key component of its mission.

“They are a very important part of the Church’s mission,” he said. “The educational component is critical.”

For what was her last mass as head of the VCS’ high school, Connelly said she was excited to have Bishop Kopacz at St. Aloysius.

“We’re very fortunate that he was able to come,” Connelly said.

Addressing the students, Connelly urged them to carry the lessons they have learned at St. Francis and St. Aloysius outside the schools.

“We are extremely powerful in the community of Vicksburg,” she said. “I have been blessed to be a part of each of your lives.”

She closed by encouraging them to keep Jesus as the center of their focus, continue touching lives of those around them and to allow their hearts to be open.

“When you have a school like this, you realize how important a school can be for a community,” Kopacz said.

After the service, Kopacz said he was pleased to have been able to get to St. Aloysius — the first Catholic school he has visited in Mississippi.

Traditionally, the bishop of the Jackson Diocese visits during Catholic Schools Week held in January. However, Kopacz was not appointed until he moved from his former church, Most Holy Trinity Parish in Mt. Pocono, Penn., in February.

Kopacz, a native of Dunmore, Penn., was ordained a priest for the diocese of Scranton in 1977.

After his ordination, he served as priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish for 12 years and, simultaneously, as a professor at the St. Pius X Seminary.

After a six-year stint as pastor of the parish of Saint Michael, Saint James and Saint Stanislaus in Jessup, Penn., he was transferred to the Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Scranton from 1995 to 1998.

He previously was the Vicar General and Vicar for Clergy from Feb. 2005 to Aug. 2009.

He was appointed as the new bishop of Jackson by Pope Francis in December.