Marta, Kev (another new hat) and Simon
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Kev and I were invited to participate at an event at the Vatican last weekend, which was organised by the new Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation. There were about 350 people there, representing different groups from around the world. It was really interesting and encouraging to hear about all the efforts that are being made to spread the Good News in different parts of the world.
In the afternoon, we joined with 8500 people who are involved in the New Evangelisation. Kev and some others from the Emmanuel Community lead the music. I was proud as punch.
We listened to some talks and then were treated to a small concert by Andrea Bocelli. It was fabulous!
Then the Pope joined us. It was great - especially for our new students. Kev and I were right up the front. We had special tickets because we had been to the meeting in the morning.
The next day we went to Mass at St Peter's Basilica. It was especially for the participants of the conference on the New Evangelisation. In his homily, the Holy Father declared the coming year as the Year of Faith, with an emphasis on its missionary aspect.
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On Wednesday 19th October, Kev and I went to the official opening of Domus Australia, which is a new hotel and pilgrim centre in Rome which is run by the Catholic Church of Australia. Our dear friend Fr Denton is the rector. We were very blessed to receive and invitation to the event, because most of the other people were bishops and priests.
When we arrived we noticed that the streets were blocked and there were police everywhere, in anticipation of the Pope's arrival. When we got inside we realised that we were to be seated in another room where we could watch everything on a tv screen. We were a little disappointed (to put it mildly). Then at the last minute, an official entered the room and read out some names of people who were asked to come into the church where the event was taking place. Our names were on the list! Very soon afterwards, the Pope walked into the small church with Cardinal Pell and Fr Denton.
The Pope arrives at Domus Australia
The Cardinal spoke briefly and then the Holy Father gave some encouraging words. It was strange to hear him speaking in English again.
The he went out to the courtyard and unveiled a plaque. From this point we watched everything on the screens. It was nice to see that Fr Denton got to spend some moments chatting with the Holy Father. After the Pope left, we had fancy finger-food and wine. We got to catch up with lots of Aussies who live in Rome but we don't see very often.
You can watch a snippet of the event here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_onbJMjGjo
You can watch the whole thing at the bottom of this page:
http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/news/latest_news/2011/20111021_1362.shtml
Look out for Kev and me who are sitting at the back on the left!
We have had a very busy week indeed, but have been so blessed to see so much of the Pope!
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