Professor Francis Campbell, Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University, Twickenham, officially opened the new Junior School at St Benedict’s, Ealing, west London on Tuesday 21st November.
Professor Campbell, formerly the British ambassador to the Holy See, told pupils that they should always remember the three elements of people, place and prospect at St Benedict’s. People, he said, create the school’s ethos, ‘which hits you as soon as you walk through the door,’ adding that ‘the Benedictine education of the whole person and faith formation is immediately apparent here.’
Secondly, the school’s location beside Ealing Abbey is a constant reminder that it is part of the 1,500-year-old Benedictine tradition, and that Catholic education is ‘the largest provider of education world-wide’. Professor Campbell said: ‘There is nothing insular about Catholic education – it opens doors, it doesn’t shut them.’
Finally, he encouraged pupils to feel excited about their prospects; to ‘take inspiration from former pupils who have walked here before you, and who are now successful in all walks of life, doing the things they love’.
Abbot Martin Shipperlee blessed the new building and Professor Campbell unveiled a commemorative stone.