On Tuesday 10th October 2017, 44 students and five staff, including Fr Mark our school Chaplain, started their pilgrimage to Rome and the Vatican.
Our days were action packed from day 1. We were blessed with Fr Mark’s presence, as he could lead us round the beautiful city and had a wealth of knowledge because he had trained for 5 years at the English College in Rome. He and Mr Katumba could speak Italian, which proved very useful.
We visited world famous sites such as the amazing Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, the Catacombs, the Piazza Navona, the Spanish steps and the stunning Trevi Fountain. We visited many churches such as Santa Maria Maggiore, St John Lateran and the chapel of the Venerable English College. This gave us time for reflection and prayer.
On Wednesday we got up very early, and, along with many people from all over the world, travelled to Vatican City as we were privileged to receive tickets to see Pope Francis at his audience in St Peter’s Square. The crowd was immense but we could get close enough to see the Pope in his ‘Pope Mobile’. Just being in his presence gave some of us goose bumps. The master of ceremonies welcomed St Edmund’s Catholic Academy and as we waved our flags and cheered. You could not help but feel a sense of pride that we had created history and been in the presence of someone very special.
We then went on to visit the Vatican Museum, which show the vast history and wonders of the Catholic Church, the students were in awe of the paintings by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.
We were blessed with beautiful weather and our days were full and long but we came back feeling blessed that we had the opportunity to experience such an amazing city.
