Think Tank for Pope Francis
By John Smith 12BH

Last week, a handful of pupils from each year were gathered to take part in a global questionnaire for the youth of the world, in preparation for the Synod of Pope Francis. Asked a set of questions about their identity, beliefs and ideas about prejudice and assisted by familiar faces from last year’s Mission Week, the views and ideas of St Edmund’s students will be gathered along with the answers of schools from across the world, ready to be presented to the Pope in time for his conference with the world’s bishops and priests, all in an effort to help the youth of the world.

Think Tank by Alishya Jose 10RH

The Synod Think Tank took place on the 15th March. Both the BCYS AND Soli Team (Vicki, John, David, Cameron and Janaya) came into school. They met with 30 pupils from KS3, KS4 and Sixth Form and I was one of the pupils involved.
At the beginning they encouraged us to play a game to get us active. Vicki gave us a subject to discuss. She has 3 key focuses: Beauty, Truth and Goodness. Based on that, David shared an experience of his pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. After he shared his experience, we were asked to close our eyes and think of the moments we saw or heard of something that was beautiful. He said even the simplest moments, like having a cake on a rainy day, is special.
Janaya sang the song that she and her band composed and the verses were profound, it touched me somewhere inside. After she sang, she shared her experience of seeing the Northern Lights in her town where she lives in Canada and she said she would never get enough of seeing them.
After this we split into groups to discuss the questions we had been given. Me and my friends were in Cameron’s group and we were all confident in answering the questions since the leader was friendly. A portion of the inquiry that we were given was very thought provoking that it makes you doubt your convictions, life and future. There were 20 questions and two of them was what is important to you in life? What do you want to be as a person? The experiences of the two group leaders encouraged me to ponder that the littlest thing can be admirable in your life. In the group discussion, the talk was profound and I got the chance to encounter a new point of view.
My companions, my friends and I were astonished at the fact that Pope Francis actually wants to hear real, honest answers to the questions he asked. We never lied. Regardless of whether or not it was impolite, we were advised to state the truth. That gives us the motivation that even one individual can have an effect on the world. I hope that there are further Synod meeting in school since many people, including me, loved hearing and giving opinions and it felt like Pope Francis was there when we were making our points.