This article was published in the spring 2026 issue of The Vincentian, the quarterly newsletter of the Congregation of the Mission Western Province.
St. Vincent’s Schools in Perryville celebrate 130 years with Catholic Schools Week
St. Vincent de Paul Church in Perryville, Missouri, was packed to capacity for its Feb. 2 Pass the Light Mass, which kicks off Catholic Schools Week at the Parish each year. The celebration of Catholic Schools week was delayed by a week this year because of a snow storm that hit the area at the beginning of the prior week.
Members of the senior class entered in a processional with members of the kindergarten class—the outgoing and the incoming, each moving into a new phase in their lives, anchored by their mutual connection to St. Vincent’s. Pastor Fr. Joe Geders, C.M., called it, “an overload of cuteness.”
This Catholic Schools Week is a special one at the parish, which celebrates 130 years of Catholic education and has been run by the Vincentians since 1818.
With 582 students from age 3 through grade 12 and 75 staff, the schools have an eye on the future while they celebrate the past, said Zach Stobart, Ed.S., President of Schools. A few years ago, they changed their administrative structure and transitioned their advisory council to a more formal Board of Directors.
“St. Vincent Schools have excelled in academics, athletics, and spiritual formation, demonstrating a well-rounded commitment to developing students’ minds, bodies, and souls,” said Dr. Stobart, who is in his second year as president and his fourth overall at St. Vincent’s.
He said his and Fr. Geders’ main focus areas of focus are sustainability and the Catholic identity of the school. Toward the latter goal, Fr. Ranjan Lima, C.M., joined the staff in 2024 as principal of the Junior and Senior High School. A native of India, he came to the school after completing his doctorate in curriculum studies at DePaul University.
Fr. Ranjan said he is impressed by the strong sense of community in the Perryville and that the school has become more intentional about its Catholic and Vincentian identity through structured spiritual activities and faith formation programs, making faith a visible and active part of daily school life.
Dr. Stobart asserts that the students’ perception of priests has changed with Fr. Ranjan in the building, which he thinks will also serve to enhance vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
“I have had discussions with graduating seniors, who said they feel they have become more Catholic and more Vincentian,” Dr. Stobart said.
Fr. Ranjan said he believes the school has fulfilled the goal of Catholic education very well, which is about forming students in the mind of Christ. This extends to the schools’ Parish School of Religion program, according to Coordinator Randy Dickmann. The program’s 119 enrollees, who attend public school, celebrate reconciliation, first communion, and confirmation along with the rest of the students at St. Vincent.
“There is something unique and beautiful about this place,” Fr. Ranjan said about the sense of interconnectedness he has found at the school. “Most students’ parents and grandparents went here. There is a great interest and excitement among the alumni for the betterment of the school.”
And so it goes, on and on, passing the light from generation to generation.
Click HERE for a photo gallery from St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Perryville.