My New Year’s Day with Pope Francis By Liam Coyle Year 7 student at St Francis of Assisi School Aldridge

I was very lucky and grateful during the Christmas holidays to visit Rome with my Mum and Dad to celebrate a significant birthday for my Dad.It was the most amazing and fascinating experience for me and my family. Even though the Year of Mercy has ended there were many acts of mercy visible in this holy place. As Pope Francis recently said “Mercy gives rise to joy because our hearts are opened to the hope of new life.”

We visited Santa Maria Maggiore on New Year’s Eve. In front of the icon of St Francis of Assisi I lit candles for my 2 nans, for family and friends. I also remembered our School community in my prayers and thoughts. I was reminded of the words, “Lord make me an instrument of your peace”- especially being aware of the current conflict in Syria and praying for the ceasefire to continue. In this Church a famous Pope was buried in the church grounds.

Being inside the Vatican was special and a breath- taking experience since it has over 200 rooms and an astonishing collection of holy artefacts/statues. Being able to go round such an important place whilst being so young made me feel very grateful and lucky. I learnt a lot from the Vatican and another tour of the Roman Forum explained how many artefacts were “borrowed/ gifted” to the Vatican and many other Churches.

Whilst I was in the Vatican we visited the Sistine Chapel. It is an interesting room with paintings of Bible Stories of the Creation, which took 5 years to paint, and the Last Judgement, that took 7 years. This room was crammed with people because it is where the Cardinals vote for the next Pope. There were two sides of the room split by iron bars.

Joining in the celebration Mass outside the Vatican with thousands of pilgrims is something I

will never forget. Although there are many different pilgrims who speak different languages it is the symbolic actions during Mass, such as

the ‘Sign of Peace’ that clearly show how united we are in our Faith and love to each other.

Seeing Pope Francis on New Year’s Day 2017 was surreal. In his New Year Message Pope Francis reminds us that more humility and tenderness are needed in the world, saying these qualities

are signs of strength, not weakness.He said: 'The new year will be good in the

measure in which each of us, with the help of God, tries to do good, day by day. That's how

peace is created.'

This reminds us that Jesus was born homeless, a refugee who would flee his home with his mother and father. In a recent tweet, Pope Francis said, “I express my solidarity with migrants around the world and thank those who help them; welcoming them is welcoming God. As 2017 starts we can think how we can live out Pope Francis’ words in our hearts and everyday lives. This was truly a memorable experience and a good way to begin 2017!