Moate CS students make Rome visit to celebrate Jubilee Year

On April 14, the school's John Paul II Awards students went to Rome to celebrate the Jubilee year, which only occurs every 25 years. The Jubilee of Teenagers was organised for April 25-27. The group was there for 6 days and had a packed itinerary, visiting places such as the Colosseum, The Catacombs, St Peter's Basilica, The Church of San Clemente, and many other sites. They took part in some of the Jubilee events and had a day trip to Assisi, the home of St Francis in Umbria.

They had to change some plans due to the death of Pope Francis, who died two days before they embarked on the trip. The Canonisation of Carlo Acutis was cancelled.

It was an amazing experience to go to the wake and pay respects to Pope Francis and be in Rome to see the atmosphere at his funeral. On the last day the students went to see the tomb of Pope Francis which was so special.

They met up with different Carmelite groups from different countries, including a group from Arizona in the US, and groups from Italy and made so many new friends. They held a service in the Catacombs which was where early Christians celebrated their religion during the times they were still persecuted for their religion. It was an incredibly special moment during the trip.

The students also attended the Jubilee of Teenagers Mass in the Vatican where over 100,000 teenagers were in attendance. It was so lovely to see young people come together to share their faith, and they even exchanged flags with an Italian group. Rome is a beautiful city rife with food and culture at the best of times, but there was something so special about being there at that time. The students thanked Ms. Feeley, Fr. Michael Troy and Mr. Lowry for providing us with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.