A letter from
from Cardinal Pell

My Dear Friends,

For many of you 2009 will mark the commencement of your tertiary studies after a long period of concentrated study at the secondary level. For others, this year will be the continuation of your time at Sydney University.

Undoubtedly, university life is an exciting time for all as we foster new friendships, engage in extra-curricular activities and undertake areas of study with the view to securing employment in our chosen field of expertise.

Yet for many, the transition is daunting. Attending university might entail the loss of old friends and living away from home and family. We are thrust into a world that is, in many ways, foreign to our previous way of life.

More significantly, we may find our Catholic world view challenged, often vigorously, by skeptics, atheists or well meaning Christians from non-Catholic traditions. We realise that we need to delve further into the treasure of the Catholic Faith in order to understand and explain its truth with greater clarity and strengthen our relationship with Christ in order to effectively be His witnesses on campus.

To this end, I commend this handbook to you, which outlines what we offer to students to encourage them to grow in their relationship with Christ and His Church on campus. I encourage students to become part of the Catholic community and get involved in the Catholic societies such as the Catholic Society of St Peter, the Catholic Asian Students Society, the St Thomas More Society and Young Vinnies etc. In these groups you will find prayerful support and encouragement in the Catholic Faith.

The John Paul II Student Resource Centre has been operating since 2002. It is a facility for you - for all students who wish to live a Catholic life on campus. Discover Christ through your brothers and sisters. Whenever possible, meet Jesus in the Mass. Learn your faith more deeply in the Scripture study groups run by the Chaplaincy, which I especially commend to you. In the first semester of this year, we will begin by looking at St. Paul’s Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a most successful year in your studies and encourage you to make the most of your time at university. Receive your education as a gift. However, remember what St. Thomas More once said, “Put virtue in the first place and learning in the second.” Every area of study and life requires generous and faith-filled young people like you to re-Christianise our society. Seek the truth with an honest and open mind and determine to live in the
truth with every ounce of your being, above all in charity. In this lies true freedom.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

George Cardinal Pell,
Archbishop of Sydney