Mater Dei High School Students

Editor’s note: Upper grade level students at Mater Dei High School in Evansville wrote essays about Pope Francis’ recent visit to the United States. Here are some excerpts.

• The pope’s visit shows that the Church is . . . truly a universal family that values every member equally. The pope — and thus by extension the Church cares about everyone . . . . His visit makes American Catholics feel like we haven’t been forgotten and lets us know we are an important part of the Body of Christ. Aaron Abell

• Pope Francis’ visit allowed us to witness his incredible joy, sincerity and love of the Church with a focus on both American and universal issues. Kathryn Muensterman

• I really loved how our Holy Father brought a sense of unity to our nation and our government . . . . I believe that the pope’s presence in the United States has given everyone a stronger faith life and has united us all as one nation under God. Abbey Chapman

• I think that the impact from his visit will help show our leaders and representatives how important it is that they make wise decisions and choose to do good for our country. I think that his visit has caused non-believers to look at Catholics with more respect and to even start asking about the faith. Amber Wells

• He really stood out to me as an amazing leader, and an amazing holy person to look up to. I feel as if my faith was renewed by the fact that he is such a busy man, working constantly. But he is not only worrying about work, he is also thinking of everyone around him. He is showing me and others to think of others before ourselves, just as Jesus did for us.Emily Hassler

• Pope Francis opened my eyes and renewed my faith in the Church by showing me the amount of problems that can be solved and avoided just by uniting with one another in a family unity. Mallory Gries

• After being elected pope, he was asked who Pope Francis was and he replied with, “I’m a sinner.” This takes incredible courage as a pope to say this because everyone expects the pope to be the most sinless and holiest man in the world and for him to say this shows that he is courageous and a natural born leader. Ben Wolf

The Message will publish more excerpts next week.