Mount Carmel organised a Chaplaincy Day inviting pupils from chaplaincy teams from their five Catholic partner primary schools along to join with Mount Carmel's chaplaincy team for a day of activities, reflection and worship. The schools involved were St. Anne's & St. Joseph's, St. Oswald's, St. Mary's Oswaldtwistle, St. Mary's Clayton-le-Moors and Sacred Heart. There was a total of over fifty pupils from year groups 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 accompanied by teachers, religious education co-ordinators and headteachers.

The theme of the day was 'Fratelli Tutti' which is the third encyclical of Pope Francis meaning 'all brothers and sisters' or fraternity and social friendship. The Pope states the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted a failure in global cooperation and offers Fratelli Tutti as a challenge to everyone for a world after coronovirus placing human dignity at its centre.

The Chaplaincy day was led by Mr Davies, Curriculum Leader for Religious Education at Mount Carmel, supported and organised by Partnership Manager Mrs Fielding.  

The day began with an introduction to the concept of Fratelli Tutti with pupils being asked to 'predict' some of the ways the Pope has suggested we can work together in social friendship. Working in teams they produced mind maps and shared their many fantastic ideas which included; respect, community, peace, kindness and forgiveness.

Pupils then watched an animation of the parable of 'The Good Samaritan' which is the Gospel story at the heart of Fratelli Tutti. Mr Davies asked the pupils to form a human corridor whilst a pupil volunteer led on the floor as pupils walked past giving reasons why they weren't offering any assistance. An alternative group of pupils on the other side of the line then gave reasons why they should stop and help. This demonstrated a very powerful message.

After a quick break pupils were then asked to design a jigsaw piece describing themselves. All these pieces were then connected together to make a very large jigsaw which highlighted the connection between many individual people. This made a fantastic visual display of social friendship and will be put on display in Mount Carmel for all visitors to see.

Everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch and chat in Mount Carmel's Twelve Star Diner before starting preparations for an end of the day liturgy. Each school was tasked with preparing different parts of the liturgy such as the welcome, bidding prayers, two readings presented using drama, a banner 'offering'. Two beautiful hymns were also included in the liturgy.

We thank all pupils and staff from our partner Catholic primary schools for attending the Chaplaincy day and hope the messages will be taken back to spread the word amongst all the schools. 

 

Chaplaincy Day 2022