Above: Seventh and eighth grade “Cardinals” of Notre Dame Jr/Sr High School. Submitted by Rosanne Williams
Seventh and eighth graders hold own conclave in the classroom
Seventh and eighth grade students at Seton Catholic Central in Binghamton are holding their own “papal elections” during Theology class as they wait for the real smoke signal to appear from the Sistine Chapel chimney.
Theology teacher Rosanne Williams said the kids continue to surprise her with their insights, retelling a story of great compassion she witnessed during one of the exercises.
“One student was leading our class in votes, but had not yet accumulated enough votes to make the two-thirds majority,” she said. “After seeing ‘black smoke” (streams of black construction paper, meaning no pope was elected), and as the voting and counting process continued, he heard that one of the other students had lost their grandfather over Easter break. The leader immediately and quietly asked his supporters to support the grieving classmate.
“The insight there was one of valuing the ‘person’ in class more than the ‘outcome’ of the vote. I was so proud of him!” she said.
Main characteristics the students hope for in the new pope are leadership, faithfulness and one who will communicate the faith well. They’re also genuinely excited to learn about which country he’s going to come from, said Williams, though she did emphasize to the students that, according to scholar and author of a biography on Pope John Paul II, George Weigel, the pope’s nationality is irrelevant. “The character of the ‘papabile’ [or candidate] will be key,” she explained.
With that in mind, Williams also shared that a seventh grader was the first to inform her that Pope Francis donated one of his Popemobiles to Gaza. Specifically, it’s the Popemobile he used when visiting the West Bank in 2014. It will now be transformed into a mobile health clinic to treat Palestinian children.
