Thomas O'Brien doesn't like the attention his job brings him.

He doesn't like having his picture taken.

He doesn't like to brag about his two doctorate degrees; his work teaching courses at several local universities; his part-time private practice as a psychologist; or his other life as a deacon at his Mantua church, where he delivers sermons, performs weddings and baptizes babies.

And though he was recently appointed as superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, O'Brien doesn't mind that some parishioners mistake him, with his busy travel schedule and dark suits, for a salesman.

"I'm not an exceptional person," said O'Brien, while sitting in his 6th-floor office in Center City Philadelphia. "I do what I can to help people."

On March 31, the Mantua resident and lifelong Catholic was appointed to lead the archdiocese's 22 high schools, 211 elementary schools and five special education schools. There are more than 100,000 students enrolled in the archdiocese's schools.

To handle the job, O'Brien often turns to a higher power for guidance.

He is not perfect, said O'Brien, a 55-year-old Philadelphia native who is married with six grown children. He is not holy. But he does know when to ask for help.

Before every meeting, before picking up a ringing telephone and in small moments throughout the day, O'Brien prays - a quick tag on home base.

Catholic schools have a good reputation for teaching academics and passing on values, he said. But they exist primarily to carry out the mission of the church.

Their job - his job - is to teach children how to get to heaven.

He wants to change lives, not just show kids how to practice religion.

O'Brien often descends from his office to visit the schools.

He always pulls aside a few kids at random and asks them things like: Is there a trusted adult here you can turn to if you have a problem?

"I never get a `no,' " he said. "That's an important question. I want to know that there are people in those buildings that kids see as a role model."

There are plenty of other things to worry him: budgets, keeping tuition rates down, the city's shrinking school population, saving teachers' jobs.

"But I don't carry those worries alone," he said. "I trust these people to God's care."