The memory of the 17 October canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop remains strong for two Perth students, David Chua and Mathew Biddle, of Campion College in Sydney which chose two students to represent it in Rome. David gave his account exclusively for The Record.
Sunday, 17 October 2010. I am standing within the vast confines of St Peter’s Square and I am utterly overwhelmed. St Peter’s Basilica looms ahead, a towering travertine edifice, perhaps the grandest thing I have ever seen.
Bernini’s fountains gush on either side in all their beauty. I pause and wonder: am I really at home here? I, an 18 year old student, studying at a new tertiary institution … from Australia of all places! I know absolutely no Italian whatsoever.
Reality, however, speaks otherwise. Australian flags are flying through the air beside me and hallowed St Peter’s is filled with a distinctively Australian joy as Papa Benedetto pronounces Mariam a Cruce MacKillop as enrolled in the catalogue of saints.
I may not understand Italian, but this Latin is perfectly comprehensible.
Two days later I retrace the steps of Mary MacKillop herself to the Church of the Gesu, and find myself at the Collegio Romano, founded by St Ignatius of Loyola himself, a physical testimony to the enduring integrity of the Jesuit educational tradition.
I think to myself, ‘St Edmund Campion would be at home here’ … and so am I.
I am a member of the Universal Church and, of course, I am a student of the liberal arts in the spirit of Edmund Campion and the Jesuit tradition.
Rome truly is home … for a Campion student, at least.
My stay in the Eternal City has been short but I think I have been touched enough to identify with St Mary’s own sentiments in 1873 when she herself was in Rome: I feel more trust in God than ever … more love for the awesome mystery of God’s ways. I shall leave Rome with a happy and grateful heart. Let us thank God for all.