The Cristo Rey Institute (CRI) is a pontifical public juridic person (PJP) whose purpose is to offer another means of ensuring Catholic identity for schools within the Cristo Rey Network (CRN). All CRN schools must be Catholic schools. Most Cristo Rey schools ensure their Catholic identity by sponsorship through a Catholic religious order or congregation. CRI is another means to ensure the Catholic identity of CRN schools. As a PJP formally recognized by the Church, CRI certifies that the schools it sponsors are Catholic. The Pontifical Decree establishing CRI is dated March 19, 2017.

While PJPs have existed in Catholic health care in our country for some time now, the CRI, at the time of its establishment, is the first such public juridic person to sponsor Catholic high schools in the United States.

CRI, with its civil law counterpart, CRI, Inc., is available to sponsor CRN schools. Where a religious order or congregation is not available to sponsor a new Cristo Rey high school, CRI is available to do so upon formal invitation of a local bishop into his diocese.

CRI sponsorship guarantees the Cristo Rey school as an approved work of the Catholic Church. A sponsorship agreement between CRI and its sponsored school outlines the scope of work.

Yes, there are two. Cristo Rey Miami High School opened in September, 2022 and Cristo Rey Orange County High School opened in September, 2023. Both schools have CRI as their sole religious sponsor. CRI granted Catholic sponsorship to both schools upon invitation from the respective Bishops of the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Orange. It is important to note that the directors of the feasibility study for both schools invited several religious orders and congregations to consider sponsorship, especially those with experience in ministries related to education ministry. No local religious orders were able to sponsor either school. Cristo Rey Charleston (SC) has announced that Cristo Rey Institute will be its sponsor for its new Cristo Rey Network High School opening in Fall 2026.

Like most Catholic organizations, CRI has a board and staff. CRI’s board is two tiered. The Class A members are represented by the provincials of three religious orders: the Clerics of St. Viator of the Province of Chicago (Viatorians), the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. The Class B tier, or “working board”, is constituted by a majority of religious, a requirement set forth in CRI’s Canonical Statutes approved by the Holy See’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The religious and lay members who make up CRI hold leadership roles in the Catholic Church and its sponsored works. The following persons presently constitute the board and staff of CRI.

No, not formally. CRI is a separate Catholic organization incorporated in the State of Illinois, with separate board members. While it operates independently of the Cristo Rey Network, it works as an important partner with the Network.