Archbishop consults students on Pentecost speech

Sydney
24 March 2002

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Archbishop consults students on Pentecost speech

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Archbishop consults students on Pentecost speech

Archbishop Pell with student leaders (above) and (at right) with Michael Willesee

Archbishop Pell has met Year 12 student leaders from archdiocesan schools to consult them before preparing a statement he will release to parishes and senior high school students to coincide with Pentecost.

It will be the first annual Pentecostal statement, Dr Pell said. Each will have a theme that touches on a different aspect of life. This year’s statement will focus on hope.

The Archbishop wanted to meet the students so that he “will be talking about things they’re interested in rather than what I find interesting”.

They met at Sydney’s Catholic Education Office to hear Michael Willesee, former high profile current affairs repor ter, now documentary producer, talk about returning to the Church after 35 years away. His view on Christian hope, grounded in Christ’s resurrection, is that it should apply to everything that Christians do.

Students were invited to form small groups to discuss questions relating to hope and the world today. Some discussed signs of the absence of hope, such as suicide, drug and alcohol abuse and family breakdown.

Others discussed how the Catholic community today might give hope to the world, the nature of friendship, the gift of sexuality, or whether and how they thought Jesus was a sign of hope.

Summaries of their discussions were given to the Archbishop for inclusion in his statement.

He told the students: “The point of this evening is to see where we are so I won’t be droning on in one direction and you’re coming in another direction. I hope to address things that touch your lives, things you say (tonight), and incorporate other points you’ve raised.”

Maria Fuller, of St Scholastica’s College, Glebe, had been looking forward to the forum: “The archbishop is like a breath of fresh air, the way he writes in The Sunday Telegraph and talks to the media.” She hopes the Archbishop will include ideas on “how he thinks the Catholic community can be enlivened and enriched in today’s society”.

David Michael, of Marist College, North Sydney, was impressed by the Archbishop’s attempts to make stronger connections between schools and the Church by meeting student representatives to hear their views.

“He’s been very interested from the outset with what students have to say,” he said.

“He is trying to breach the gap between older school students and the Church.”