Scottish Catholic Observer

A pupil from St Francis’ Primary School in Glasgow has had his artwork chosen to form part of a European gift to the new Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Earlier this month, the Argentinian Pope was presented with the gift from the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) at the Vatican.

The council, based in St Gallen, Switzerland, had asked bishops’ conferences from across Europe to submit a drawing, poem or short text on the topic ‘Pope Francis,’ created by a primary school pupil from their respective countries.

Following an invitation from the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES), St Francis Primary School was chosen to create Scotland’s submission for the gift, and it was the work of P7 pupil Sean McNair that caught the eye of the judging panel.

Michael McGrath, director of SCES, explained why Sean’s drawing had been chosen as part of the gift to the Pope and said that—on visiting the school—he had been impressed by the work undertaken by pupils on learning about the new Holy Father, whose name had been chosen in honour of their school patron.

“Sean’s drawing seemed to capture some of the features of Pope Francis, particularly his smile, and it was set against a tartan backdrop,” Mr McGrath said.

Sharon McGeever, St Francis’ headteacher, congratulated Sean on his success and spoke of the excitement within the school community when Pope Francis was elected as the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

“Everyone at St Francis Primary was delighted when our Holy Father chose the name Pope Francis,” Ms McGeever said.

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— This story ran in full in the May 24 print edition of the SCO