Viewpoint

Congratulations to those boys who represented the College both domestically and overseas during this period. In particular, congratulations to the 1st XVIII AFL squad who won the inaugural Jesuit AFL Carnival in Adelaide.

We expect all students to have returned ready to commit themselves to the College and to their learning and formation over the next nine weeks. We are very much looking forward to the College Musical Newsies from 28 May - 31 May.

This is an important term for our Year 12s – the Class of 2025. As you might suspect, we encourage them to commit to all aspects of their school life over the coming term, but especially to their studies. We are here to support them as they remain our priority as our graduating students.

^{Left: Our 1st XVII, winners of the Jesuit AFL Carnival | Right: Today's Co-curriculum Assembly}

We spent much time in Ramsay Hall as a community this week with a Mass celebrating the life of Pope Francis on Tuesday, our annual ANZAC Day Assembly on Wednesday and today’s Summer Co-Curriculum Assembly. The following were my remarks at this Assembly:

Congratulations to all the Riverview students who have been recognised today for both your achievements of the last sporting and co-curriculum season and for those recognised as our captains of sport and co-curriculum in the coming season.

Your recognition is a testament to your commitment to your chosen sport and co-curriculum activity. It is a product of your deliberate decision to dedicate yourself to your passion. Well done. You should be justifiably proud of your commitment and the achievement that it has resulted in.

I want to give a shout out to our rowers in particular. I have been witness to the commitment of these young men since I moved on campus in early January. Their enthusiasm for their sport was particularly evident early in the morning. We are thrilled for them with their success at the Head of the River and the National Rowing Championships and we wish them well as they represent us at Henley in July.

Thank you for those of you who supported Fr Tom with the Mass on Tuesday to celebrate the life of Pope Francis. I’m conscious that for many of you, he is the only pope that you’ve ever known. You might be feeling the same way that I was in 2005 when Pope John Paul II died. His papacy lasted 27 years and I had never known another Pope. We pray that the Holy Spirit inspires the cardinals in the Conclave in their election of a new Pope. We hope that the Pope is the shepherd that the Church and the world needs. I believe this will be the case.

Some of you will have been following the response to Pope Francis’ death over the last week. Secular media insisted that he was a ‘progressive’ Pope – especially in regard to Catholic moral teaching. My view is that they were insisting on what they hoped to be the case. I encountered Francis as a marvellous Pope, and the adjective that best describes him is not progressive but pastoral. Pope John Paul II taught us what we should believe. Pope Benedict XVI taught us why we should believe it. Pope Francis taught us what we should do about it.

The Church’s first ever Jesuit Pope responded to his ministry in a manner that all good Jesuits do. Following in the footsteps of Saint Ignatius, he would walk through the door of those whom he wanted to form in order that they might walk out through his. Francis was a man of honour. He was true to himself and true to the Gospel. His conscious decisions to adopt a more humble approach to the papacy was not performative. It was his learned and revealed response to the Good News.

Our leaders have chosen ‘Serve with Honour’ as our College theme in 2025. When I spoke to you at the commencement of the year, I argued that to be a man of honour was to say what you mean and to do what you say. Pope Francis was a man of honour. His elevation to the papacy sharpened his approach in the same way that war sharpens our true character. It distils and clarifies. We heard that in our ANZAC Day Assembly on Wednesday.

Our sense of honour extends to how our Jesuit school approaches co-curriculum.  Especially sport. Who we are is clarified in times of trial. It is clarified in times of disappointment.

I love sport. I love playing it as both a young and slightly less young man. I was never particularly good at sport, but its gifts of camaraderie, teamwork, skill development and character formation were priceless for me. It is why, as a Jesuit boys’ school, I am supportive of the essential role that sport plays.

In sport we prioritise participation because we know that it is a self-evident good to be involved in sport.

We also want you to excel, regardless of your talent.

We view winning positively. We want to win. But not at any cost.

We don’t cheat to win. It is just not worth it. We don’t play dirty to win. It is just not worth it. And we don’t pay the families of talented sportsmen to compete for this school. It is just not worth it.

We would rather rely upon our home-grown talent. Rely upon the commitment we have and the passion we share for our mates and for our school. We would rather be second than compromise our virtues in the pursuit of victory.

When we lose, we do so with honour. And when we win, we win with honour.

Congratulations to all those whom we have recognised today and all my very best wishes for the coming term.