Viewpoint

Australia has previously hosted this Congress twice: in Sydney in 1928 and in Melbourne in 1973. In 2025, Pope Leo XIV chose the theme, ‘This is My Body, Given for You’, for the congress, taken from the account of Jesus Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples. Over the next two years, preparation for the Eucharistic Congress will be a significant focus for the Church in Sydney.  As part of this, there will be restoration works and renovations of Saint Mary’s Cathedral, the mother Church of Australia. The first St Mary’s Cathedral was built by Fr John Joseph Therry, the first Catholic priest to come to Australia in 1820. When he died, he left his estate to the Irish Jesuits, and through his generous bequest the Irish Jesuits were able to buy the beautiful property that is now our school.  

In addition to this, we learnt this week that Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer and was operated on a few days ago. I invite all of us to pray for Pope Leo and his full restoration of health so that he can continue to lead the universal Church for many more years, including being able to visit our city in two years' time. This will be only the 5th time a Pope has visited Australia, with Pope Paul VI coming in 1970, Pope John Paul II visiting in 1986 and in 1995 for the beatification of Mother Mary MacKillop RSJ, and then Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 for World Youth Day.

Saint Carlo Acutis was born in 1991, and he died tragically from leukaemia in 2006, aged 15. He attended the Jesuit school in Milan called Leo XIII Institute. In his own life, he had a deep devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi, and he asked to be buried in Assisi. Saint Carlo’s tomb is located inside the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi, as part of the Sanctuary of the Spoliation. The sanctuary sits in the Piazza del Vescovado, the historic square in Assisi, where the young Saint Francis famously stripped himself of his wealthy clothing, renouncing his riches and embracing a life of poverty.

St Carlo had a great love of the Eucharist, describing it as the highway to heaven. He saw Communion as the best way of growing closer to Jesus. He was fascinated by various Eucharistic miracles and made a website about them. For St Carlo, modern technology was an important vehicle for evangelisation. From 12-25 October, some relics of Saint Carlo are visiting Sydney, and there is an opportunity to pray before these relics, asking Saint Carlo to intercede on your behalf. The relic tour is accompanied by an exhibition on the Eucharistic miracles. This visit is part of the preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress.  

For us as Christians, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life. It is the gift that Jesus Christ bestowed upon the Church at the Last Supper. Through baptism, we become part of the Body of Christ, and through the Eucharist we receive the life-giving Body and Blood of Christ. In turn, we are then sent forth to be the Body of Christ in action in the world. In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium – the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis reminded us that

The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

The Eucharist is there to help nourish, sustain and encourage all of us in our life of Christian discipleship.

World Youth Day 2027

The College is hoping for students to experience World Youth Day, to be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027.  There are places available on this trip, which will be held between July 26 and 11 August 2027.  The cost is $11,500, and the trip is open to students who are presently in Years 9 and 10 (Year 10 and 11 in 2027).  I strongly recommend this experience for students open to the potential excellent formation it offers. If you are interested in your son attending World Youth Day and he is in Year 9 or 10, and he has not expressed his interest as yet, please be in touch with either Mr John Gilles (jpgilles@riverview.nsw.edu.au) or Mr Michael Dela Cruz (MDelaCruz@riverview.nsw.edu.au) before Wednesday 21st October.

Wishing you all every blessing.