People sitting in movie theaters in the Philadelphia area waiting for the latest summer blockbuster to begin have been seeing a commercial promoting the benefits of a Catholic school education.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been running the 30-second commercials on 264 movie theater screens since July 6.

The $120,000 effort is an expansion of a marketing campaign the archdiocese launched to boost enrollment. I’ve read that enrollment at the archdiocese’s Catholic elementary schools has dropped drastically. In fact, my children’s elementary school was joined by another nearby Catholic school due to dipping numbers.

I’ve seen ads for Catholic schools everywhere now. I hope it works but one thing puzzled me. Ads for Catholic schools with no mention of Jesus. I know Catholicism has been through the public relations ringer recently but I’m pretty sure Jesus still has strong favorables. Go with your strong suit, I say.