BY Martin Dunlop | May 25 | 
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Lives remembered at Caritas Awards
A special posthumous tribute will be paid to two Scottish Catholic school pupils at next weekend’s Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award ceremony.
During the medal ceremony next Saturday, two posthumous Caritas Award Medals will be presented in honour of Joe Wilson, who died suddenly at the age of 17 last December, and 19-year-old Reamonn Gormley, who was killed in Blantyre last February.
Parents and family members of both young men will be present at the Caritas Award ceremony at Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium.
Prior to his unexpected death last December, Joe (above right) had already begun working towards achieving the Caritas Award—which encourages and promotes the ongoing faith journey of young people—alongside many of his fellow S6 pupils at Taylor High School, New Stevenston, Motherwell.
Gerry McCormick, Taylor High School headteacher, described Joe as ‘an excellent student who had a rare combination of very high academic ability and outstanding personal qualities.’
“Joe was an inspirational young man who touched the lives of everyone he came in contact with in the most positive way,” Mr McCormick said. “He lived his Faith in everything that he did and his outstanding personal qualities, allied to his academic brilliance, will be a witness in the school and wider community for generations of pupils to come.”
Although Reamonn (far right) died prior to the establishment of the inaugural Caritas Award, his character is widely recognised as exactly that which stands out as an example of faith, care and compassion for others, and one that would have befitted such an award.
Eddie Morrison, headteacher at John Ogilvie High School in Hamilton, where Reamonn was formerly a pupil, described him as ‘a young man who instinctively knew how to do the right thing.’
“In his short life, he was a quiet, inspirational force within the school and indeed, within his local and wider community,” Mr Morrison said. “The plaque of dedication in our school simply reads: ‘In the end, a person is only known by the impact they have on others.’ This is Reamonn’s legacy and the pupils and staff of John Ogilvie High school are proud to walk in his footsteps.”
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