Scottish Catholic Observer

Around 450 young people from Catholic schools and parishes will be presented with the award in front of a capacity audience of 3000 people, representing schools and parishes across the country.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien and the bishops of Scotland will be among the special guests at the event, together with the country’s religious, political, civic and business leaders.

The Caritas Award, which is supported by the lay Catholic organisation the Knights of St Columba, builds on the legacy of the 2010 Papal visit and promotes the ongoing Faith journey of young people in Scotland.

Douglas Osler, former chief inspector of schools, has led a panel assessing submissions for the award from almost 50 secondary schools in recent weeks.

Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, commented that the assessors have been ‘greatly impressed by the quality of so many submissions, which testify to Caritas—God’s love—having an ‘extraordinary impact’ on the lives of these young people.’

“They have written and spoken about powerful experiences of caring for vulnerable people—the very young, the sick and dying, those with special needs,” Mr McGrath said. “Some of these experiences have transformed their view of faith and of the Church and are leading them to commit to ongoing engagement with faith.

“I cannot praise highly enough the efforts of all those who have contributed to the outstanding success of this inaugural year—the young people themselves, their families, schools and parishes, as well as the Knights of St Columba, who have supported this inaugural year of the scheme.”

Mr McGrath added that the ceremony, which will be held on June 2, will be ‘a joyful celebration,’ and will feature musical performers from various schools and also tell some of the young peoples’ stories which have emerged from this year’s experiences.

“We hope that every parish in the country can be represented and take the chance to find out how they can support young people to commit their time and talents to the work of God in their local area,” he added.

n Admission to the event is by ticket only and tickets, which are free, can be obtained by completing the form on the site: http://www.caritasaward.org/booking-form/.

n Invitations have been sent to school and parishes and a personalised invitation is being sent to each recipient of the Caritas Award. Recipients can obtain tickets for family members by contacting their schools.