Assisi!

Ok - not sure if anyone is reading this but will continue as it journals for me what we have been doing.

Yesterday was a big day with mass at St Peter's Basilica at 8.30am followed by a meeting with the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education.  Mass was in Italian in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel which was lovely. The meeting was very interesting and I was surprised at how much the Under Secretary knew about Catholic Education in Australia.

Following the Vatican we visited the Catacombs - the oldest Christian burial ground in Rome. There are about 20km of tunnels and approximately 1/2 million people were buried down there. After ten centuries of neglect they were rediscovered in the late 1800s after most of the tombs had been vandalised.  An amazing place!

Our last visit for the day was to the Basilica of St Paul's (outside the walls). We have now visited three of the four Papal Basilicas in Rome and I'm hoping to get to San Clemente's tomorrow - it's a five minute walk.

Today we have been to Assisi!

Although my second trip to Assisi I still found plenty to learn and think about. The artwork in the church and basilica are amazing and our guide, Isabella, explained the story shown in them very well.

The simplicity and courage of St Francis is very clear in the messages of Pope Francis which resonates strongly with the people that we have met so far. Many of them quote the words of the Pope to connect ideas and experiences with the mission of Catholic Education and the Church.

Still having trouble putting photos on so will upload the other posts once I have worked it out.