By Isaac Murphy
ARCHBISHOP Mark Coleridge has presided over Stuartholme School’s opening Mass of the year for the first time in his tenure.
The Mass marked a dual celebration for the Toowong school – its 95th anniversary and acknowledging the senior class of 2015.
It was fitting that Archbishop Coleridge was present for the 95th anniversary, as the late Archbishop James Duhig had been a guest at the school’s inaugural opening Mass in 1920.
“It was of significant importance to have Archbishop Coleridge attend, to carry on the close relationship between Stuartholme and the Archdiocese of Brisbane,” principal Helen Sinclair said.
The Archbishop also took time after the Mass to meet student leaders and bless the school’s new boarding house and science laboratories.
The school’s values are derived from the Religious of the Sacred Heart.
Staff and students made pledges at the opening Mass to uphold the five pillars of education that guide the sisters.
The pillars include a personal and active faith in God, respect for intellectual values, social awareness and action, sense of community and Christian value and personal growth.
Mrs Sinclair spoke with passion about the responsibility the staff and students had in honouring the sisters’ traditions.
“Their influence is the essence of the college,” she said.
