John Paul II Award

On Tuesday the 16th of November a group of transition year students from the Cross&
Passion College attended the Pope John Paul II awards in the Mansion House, Dublin.
Fr Jim Caffery Director of CYC welcomed everyone to the ceremony and following his
speech the Lord Mayor of Dublin spoke about the purpose of the award being to offer
young people the chance to learn the way of service and to develop their skills of
Christian leadership. The opportunity allows them to think beyond themselves into
the needs of others. The Holy Family community school choir from Rathcoole performed
the songs ‘Our god is here’ as well as ‘Desire’. Father Paul Farren (Derry Diocese)
further discussed their aims with these awards and in addition to this he led a
presentation on the life of John Paul the II. The Archbishop Diarmuid Martin gave
his views on the importance of community work and also a Dublin senior footballer
Bernard Brogan spoke about the input of God in his life growing up. A presentation
was made to Victoria Byrne from St Killian’s community school, Bray for her success
in the work she accomplished in her community. The ceremony closed with a
performance from a student singing the song ‘Shine’ and refreshments were available
to all subsequently. The students learned a great lot from the experience and are
looking forward to making a positive alteration in their local community.

by Emer Fogarty 4th Year