By Greg Finn, founder of The Mark 10 Mission
“We pray that he will be the new rock on whom Jesus can build his Church.”
This was the invitation I shared with over 40,000 Catholic primary school children from St Peter’s Square on the morning of Thursday 8 May. I lead The Mark 10 Mission and four of the team were in Rome to film a live assembly and welcome Catholic schools into the excitement of the papal election. Within seven hours of going live across the UK, the four of us watched from the square as Pope Leo XIV was introduced to the world. I think this may have been the greatest day of my life so far!
As many in Catholic schools know, The Mark 10 Mission is a pioneering Catholic charity created to bring children to Jesus. Last Thursday, we had the privilege of hosting a live online gathering from the Vatican. As the cardinals voted in the Sistine Chapel, hundreds of Catholic schools across the United Kingdom stopped lessons at 10am to watch the event.
My friend Gabriel Carberry and I hosted the assembly live via YouTube. The week before, as soon as we had heard the announcement of the start date for the conclave, we felt called to be in Rome and to help children experience it. Our prayer was to give children a sense of the excitement and atmosphere of anticipation in Rome. We also wanted to help them understand more about the papacy and most importantly to pray for the cardinals and future pope.
Having hastily secured press passes from the Holy See, and with a deep sense of imposter syndrome, we set up alongside the media networks of the world at the entrance to St Peter’s Square. We went live at 11am Rome time [10am UK time], knowing there was an outside chance that white smoke and the signal that a new pope had been elected may come whilst we were on air.
We began by welcoming children, not knowing at this point that around 25,000 were watching live, more would see the recording later in the day. We showed them the square, pointing out the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and explaining the significance of the white and black smoke signals. In the square the previous evening, our talented videographer Theo Farrell had captured slow motion footage of the black smoke billowing after the first round of voting. We showed this to the children.
My approach when leading children to Jesus is to avoid the temptation to share huge amounts of information. Whether I am sharing a passage of scripture, an icon or symbol, the best posture is to offer it to children, let them listen, see and then wonder together. This was our approach during the live assembly. We did not want to provide a ‘live lesson’ rather a chance to absorb the beauty and mystery which surrounds the conclave. As we spoke about the process, how the cardinals must listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we welcomed children into exactly what we were feeling ourselves, the excitement and profound sense of anticipation for what was to come.
We share celebration of the Word videos with tens of thousands of children each week and we wanted to keep scripture at the heart of the live assembly from Rome. Our chosen passage was Matthew 16:13-20 in which Jesus says “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”
This passage helped us share with the children how St Peter was able to listen to the voice of God speaking in his heart. We reflected upon how this made him a great leader and was a key factor in why he was the one chosen by Jesus to lead the Church on earth. Then came the most important part of the morning, an encouragement to pray that the next pope, the successor of St Peter, would be the new rock on whom Jesus could build the Catholic Church.
Next came spontaneous prayer. In a time when many teachers are unsure about how to lead prayer. I hope this time of unscripted prayer offered a beautiful model of how to invite children into God’s presence, guiding them to share words silently with Jesus and to listen to his response. We led into an invocation to the Holy Spirit, inviting him to descend upon the cardinals as they voted.
Perhaps the most ambitious feature of the assembly followed. A live worship song. I’m not ashamed to say, we were incredibly nervous about whether this would work. We know that children love to sing hymns and worship songs and so we could not miss the once in a lifetime chance to sing one from St Peter’s. Although we got plenty of funny looks from the journalists on either side of us, Gabriel sang “Holy Spirit You Are Welcome Here’ live from the square. The Lord looked after the technology, Gabriel sounded brilliant and after the assembly, we were sent lots of social media videos from schools who had filmed their children singing the song with Gabe. What a joy!
We always love to send children out with a mission to live out their faith. The parting shot from the live assembly was to keep praying for the cardinals. We also asked children to keep a look out for white smoke and when they heard that there was smoke from the chimney, to rush to a TV to watch. As you know, at 6.08pm that evening [5.08pm UK time], the white smoke came and the world knew that a new pope had been chosen. Myself and Theo had been editing some short form videos in the press office and reached Gabriel and Harriet about three minutes before the white smoke came. I just remember jumping around with elation. It was a greater joy than any last minute goal in a football game or winning a prize!
The next hour felt like a dream, a tangible charge of excitement filling the square. As a team we prayed the same prayer we had with the children earlier: ‘Whoever walks out onto that balcony, may they be God’s choice.’ The Swiss guards marched by, the cardinals filled the balconies and as Cardinal Mamberti stepped out to make his announcement a silence descended. I must admit, I had done a lot of research on the cardinals on the flight to Rome, but I knew nothing about Robert Francis Prevost. “An American!” said Gabe.
Before we had time to gather our thoughts, he was there, our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, waving from above. I glanced at the big screen across to our left and saw the emotion on his face.
Perhaps it is a common experience, but the enormity of what we as a team were witnessing did not sink in there and then. It was only on the flight back that it hit home how beautiful and profound those moments were.
Filming the assembly was a wonderful privilege and I pray it blessed so many schools and children. However, being there in St Peter’s Square, with the eyes of the world watching on was one of the greatest thrills of my life. I was in love with the Catholic Church before, but I think what I experienced on Thursday night has taken it to a whole new level. As a team we agreed that whatever happens from now, we will each have a deep connection with the ‘Papa Americano’ Leo XIV. Whenever I hear his name at Mass or see his portrait, I am sure it will take me back to the square that Thursday night.
Three years ago I made a step of faith, I left my job as a Catholic school teacher to share the Gospel with children full-time. I had no doubt that the Lord would take me on a wonderful adventure. He definitely has over the last three years and I am sure there will be many more joy-filled moments, but it will take a lot to top the experience of welcoming tens of thousands of children to Rome and being in the square to greet our new pope.
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