The 2015 World Meeting of Families, hosted here in Philadelphia, provides a unique opportunity for teachers to discuss the role of Catholicism in our community and the history of religious toleration here in Pennsylvania. To help foster that classroom discussion, we made our latest issue of Pennsylvania Legacies exclusively devoted to Catholics in Pennsylvania. The articles in this issue illustrate how Catholicism expands beyond racial and ethnic boundaries in order to tell the story of various immigrant groups, the role of the local parish in civilian life, and the legacy of famous Philadelphians, such as Saint Katherine Drexel.

This issue also provides resources exclusively for teachers, including a lesson plan that discusses the social and political impact of papal visits, comparing the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979 to the upcoming visit of Pope Francis in 2015. It also includes a Teachers Turn article, by HSP Teacher Advisor Amy Cohen, that offers a fantastic overview of how to use the articles to fuel classroom discussions and relate the topics to today.  

We are happy to provide the lesson plan for free on our unit plans page, but to access the entire issue, please contact the editor to purchase a copy or download online.