- Formation and community engagement
- Primary school
11 Jun 2026
“We couldn’t believe the blessings our little country school and parish have received,” said St Joseph’s School, Childers Parish Priest Father Jack Ho.
What started as a simple conversation over dinner became a moment the small Queensland community of Childers would never forget. A special invitation directly from His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
In the quiet town of Childers, St Joseph’s School had been preparing for a milestone year - 100 years of growing, achieving and succeeding together.
Putting Childers on the map
Parish Priest Father Jack Ho said he was sitting around the dinner table with parishioners and St Joseph’s School past parents Joe and Jillian Russo, when they all realised they could be in Rome at the same time on two separate pilgrimages. Joe is also a former student of St Joseph’s School.
“Imagine if we could present our school’s centenary shirt to the Pope!” the trio laughed.
“We were joking around about this possibility,” Father Jack said.
“Suddenly it’s not much of a joke anymore!”
Knowing that St Joseph’s was celebrating its centenary, Australia’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Keith Pitt, brought his strong local connection to the occasion. As the former Federal Member for Hinkler, he knew the school and Parish community well, having served the region for more than ten years and officially opening St Joseph’s School’s Staff Hub in 2016.
“On hearing our travel plans, Mr Pitt was so generous in welcoming us and in offering local hospitality,” Father Jack adds.
What followed was something no one quite expected. A brief was prepared. A formal request. A quiet hope sent into the heart of the Vatican by Mr Pitt, on behalf of the connected school and Parish community
Then came the reply
“We heard back only hours before we were due to land in Rome,” Father Jack said.
Father Jack, Joe and Jillian were granted a baciamano, a brief opportunity to meet Pope Leo XIV in person.
“For a small school marking 100 years, this opportunity meant everything,” Father Jack said.
“That was when the idea took shape!
“If we were going to meet Pope Leo in the year for St Joseph’s, why not try to bring the school and Parish with us.”
Father Jack carried with him a modest, but meaningful gift for the Holy Father, a St Joseph’s School centenary shirt, and a candle handmade by the young people of the Parish.
“Meeting Pope Leo, the distance between Childers and Rome, the heart of the Universal Church, felt impossibly small in that moment,” Father Jack said.
Principal Christina Day said the extraordinary encounter in Rome became a powerful symbol of what the milestone truly means.
“The moment is really about connection,” she said.
“Between past and present, and between local and global.
“Showing how a small Queensland school like St Joseph’s can share its story with the heart of the Catholic Church.”
For Father Jack, the moment never belonged to him alone.
“It’s not really about the three of us,” Father Jack said.
“It’s about our school and our Parish. It’s about 100 years of community.
“We would like to thank Australia's Ambassador to the Holy See, Keith Pitt, for the generous support and the opportunity to celebrate and share our centenary year with Pope Leo XIV.”
For more information about St Joseph’s School, Childers or to enrol click here.
Image caption: His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, Australia’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Keith Pitt, Joe and Jillian Russo, and Father Jack Ho. Image used with permission (Credit: Vatican Media).
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