By Amanda Murthy
The BJ Hickey Scholarship is the brainchild of Perth Emeritus Archbishop Barry James Hickey, set up with the sole intention of offering lay people from the Archdiocese of Perth with the rare opportunity of undertaking Biblical studies either locally or abroad.
Managed by the Centre for Faith Enrichment (CFE), the Biblical Foundation has a twofold mission of assisting local Catholics in developing their knowledge and use of the Scriptures and to offer scholarships for Biblical studies through the BJ Hickey Biblical Foundation.
This year, seven recipients were selected and presented a scholarship at an afternoon ceremony held in the St Mary’s Cathedral Parish Centre on Friday 14 February.
Gracing the ceremony were Emeritus Archbishop Hickey, Cathedral Dean Rev Dr Sean Fernandez, CFE Director Dr Marco Ceccarelli, as well as the scholarship winners and their guests.
In his welcome speech, Dr Ceccarelli quoted some words from the recent Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis Aperuit Illis, before explaining the purpose of the scholarship.
“I think it is very fitting that we host this event that celebrates Scripture and the study of Scripture, not too long after Pope Francis established that ‘the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God’, Dr Ceccarelli stated.
“This scholarship, for biblical studies of any length at any level, locally or overseas [such as Jerusalem or Rome] are available to those with a desire to develop their knowledge and use of the Scriptures to form a firm biblical foundation for their everyday lives.
“One does not need to be an academic to apply for a scholarship – they just need a firm desire to know the Scriptures better and to help others with that knowledge.
“I congratulate you [scholars] on your success and am delighted to be here to see you empowered to deepen your knowledge of Scripture and to see you ready to bring back the richness that you will receive from your respective Scriptural studies into our Archdiocese,” he added.
Scholarship recipient Catherine Nguyen spoke at the event, expressing her gratitude to the Archdiocese for avidly supporting and encouraging the studies of Scripture and allowing those inclined to pursue studies, who may not otherwise have the means to.
“I will be using my Biblical Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford’s Theology Summer School in later this year,” she said.
“It has been a long-time dream of mine to study overseas, and while England may not be the same epicentre for religious studies as Israel or Rome are, Oxford University still has some of the most renowned theologians and scriptural scholars in the world.
“To walk the hallowed halls of one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious universities is more than I ever dared to imagine would happen in this lifetime, and I sincerely thank the Scholarship Committee for helping me realise this dream,” she expressed.
Ms Nguyen added that one of the units she looks forward to the most is studying the Gospel of Matthew from lecturer Fr Henry Wansbrough OSB, who is the General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible.
“I am quite certain his insights and expertise will broaden and deepen my understanding of the most awesome books in the world, and in turn I will use my new learnings in my role of facilitating the formation and training of our Archdiocese’s new catechists in their scripture studies,” Ms Nguyen concluded.
Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation student Luke Ratajczak explained that the funds received from the scholarship would be put towards the scripture units involved in his certificate.
“Studying scripture will help me grow in my own faith and help me to come to know God on a much deeper level,” the 17-year old said.
“I am extremely passionate about my faith, so gaining a deeper understanding of the Catholic Faith really means a lot to me, and I hope to share my faith with other young people.
“After I complete the certificate, I will qualify as a Youth Minister for 24:7 Youth Ministry. This means I will be eligible to lead a youth group for a Parish in the Perth Archdiocese.
“I eventually hope to enter university where I could possibly study Religious Education teaching or even school chaplaincy for a Catholic school – this would fulfil my desire to teach students about God and his love for them,” Mr Ratajczak concluded.