New Catholic teachers meet the Pope!

"For they will look up to you as models: models in life, models of faith. They’ll look to you particularly as to how you teach and how you live. I hope that, each day, you will nurture your relationship with Christ, who gives us the pattern of all authentic teaching (cf Mt 7:28), so that, in turn, you may guide and encourage those entrusted to your care to follow Christ in their own lives."

These are the words of Pope Leo XIV, addressed to new Catholic teachers from dioceses across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, during a visit to the Vatican on 5 July.

Amid a packed itinerary the teachers also attended Mass at the tomb of St Peter, in addition to visiting St Peter's Basilica; the Basilica of St Mary Major; the 13th-century monastery Palazzola; Pontifical villa Castelgandolfo; Pompeii; Monte Cassino; the Pantheon; and Assisi, where they went to Mass at the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis.

Images show the teachers and international education service delegates at the Abbey of Monte Cassino; the tomb of St Benedict, Monte Cassino; outside the Basilica of St Clare, Assisi; at the English College, Rome; and with Pope Leo XIV in Rome.