1 March 2023

When a student from Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School, South Melbourne, submitted an entry to an international drawing competition, he may never have thought it would reach the Vatican.

The illustration by Year 4 student Peter was selected as Australia’s winning entry and is now set to gain the approval of Pope Francis. Over 200 entries were submitted from schools in seven dioceses across Australia for a drawing competition to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Society of the Holy Childhood, one of the four societies that make up Catholic Mission. The competition encouraged students to reflect on how Pope Francis inspires children to help other children.

Peter’s illustration was chosen from a shortlist of 10 finalists as the winning entry from Australia. The illustration uses bubbles to represent ‘hope’, ‘teach’ and ‘charity’, and shows the dynamic ways in which Pope Francis aims to inspire children by example. It will be published in a book of entries from children around the world and presented to the Holy Father himself in celebration of the anniversary.

The competition was also integrated as an activity alongside Socktober, Catholic Mission’s school and community engagement program. ‘Socktober aims to bring mission alive for students across Australia by engaging their talents and interests in various activities, and to support other children who are in need’, said Matt Poynting, the program’s coordinator. ‘This was a fun activity on the side, and we were thrilled to see such broad and creative uptake among participating students.’