​HUNDREDS of primary and secondary students from across Brisbane Archdiocese descended on St Stephen's Cathedral for the launch of Project Compassion and the famous pancake flipping races that follow. Caritas Australia's Project Compassion is the Catholic Church’s annual appeal, one of Australia’s largest humanitarian fundraising and awareness campaigns.It's “a Lenten journey” where, for six weeks, participants answer Jesus’ invitation to open their hearts and hands with love and hope to the needs in the world. The launch was a great way for students to network with fellow students from other schools and talk about ideas they had to raise money and awareness of Project Compassion.Students also heard about real-life situations about how Caritas was helping those in need and witnessed where the money they raised was going and how it was being used.Caritas Asia Manager Ranmal Samarawickrama welcomes students from Good Samaritan Catholic College, Bli Bli, to their first Project Compassion launch in St Stephen’s Cathedral​Bishop Ken Howell, who led the annual Project Compassion liturgy, encouraged the students to “let’s go further, together” to support Project Compassion as it supported the poorest of the poor and helped break the cycle of poverty and injustice in Australia and throughout the world.He reminded those gathered of the impact Project Compassion had in the world.“It changes people’s lives – the ones we assist, mostly overseas in developing countries, but it also changes us, the ones who are giving," Bishop Howell said.

“They are changed as you are changed and that’s the wonder of giving.

“That’s a wonderful thing to remember,” he said.

He later blessed student leaders from each school as they received a commissioning scroll to take back to their school.  

Caritas Asia Manager Ranmal Samarawickrama also spoke at the launch about the work Caritas did with local partners to ensure programs embraced the most vulnerable women, children and men to build strong, inclusive, thriving communities throughout Asia.

Following the liturgy, the students spilled out into the cathedral precinct for the popular pancake flipping races and later secondary students gathered in the Francis Rush Centre for a Just Action session where they heard from guest speakers who had benefited from Project Compassion. 

Ready for the pancake flipping races