Rodney, Braeden, Bishop Christopher Prowse and Natasha Le Noel at the birthplace of St Francis Xavier.By Emma Sun
TWO students and a teacher from St Peter’s College Cranbourne recently returned from an unforgettable trip to Madrid for World Youth Day.
The Catholic event is celebrated every three years and people from around the world get the chance to meet the Pope.
Year 11 boys Rodney Pasura and Braeden Johnson and the school’s religion teacher Natasha Le Noel, departed for Madrid on Thursday 11 August before arriving in Talavera.
The trio were part of 41 pilgrims from the Diocese of Sale, led by Bishop Christopher Prowse. Ms Le Noel said about 4000 Australians got together to celebrate the occasion and despite the horrible weather, the atmosphere was still as good as ever.
“It was very hot, and there were fire engines spraying water to cool down pilgrims,” she said.
“During vigil, the sky erupted with torrential rain and gale force winds and at one point they tried to take Pope Benedict XVI to safety, but he came back on saying “my youth are here and I’m going to stay with them!”
Braeden and Rodney both enjoyed staying in Talavera in a convent with nuns and said it was a totally different experience.
“We met these wonderful nuns who went out of their way to make us happy and who would always give us a smile,” Rodney said.
“It rubbed off on everybody – you just wanted to be happy because they were,” Braeden said.
They encouraged everyone who is keen to go.
“I had a wonderful time and it would possibly be described as one of the best things I’ve done in my life,” Rodney said.
“It’s worth every cent and I would definitely go to the next one as well.”
