AUSTRALIAN WILDFIRE HERO RECEIVE PAPAL GOLD MEDAL

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The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 44, October 26, 2014, Article 22

AUSTRALIAN WILDFIRE HERO RECEIVE PAPAL GOLD MEDAL

An Australian man who led children to safety from a raging fire has been awarded a gold medal by the Pope. Its official name is the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. -Editor

St Thomas Aquinas school principal Serge Rosato was honoured with a "rare" medal from the Pope on Friday during a moving service at the school to commemorate a year on from the fires.

During the ceremony, Sydney Archbishop-elect Anthony Fisher, delivered a message from Pope Francis honouring the "heroic" Mr Rosato by awarding him the Gold Papal Medal, the Benemerenti medal, for his "exceptional" service and "great leadership to his community" while his own home burnt to the ground. It was originally an award given to soldiers in the Papal Army and has been bestowed since 1832.

Archbishop-elect Fisher said he had only learned that morning of the medal.

"I asked for it and we had heard nothing - incredibly it arrived today," he told the Gazette after the service.

"It's a very unusual [honour]. In Rome they got a sense that something special happened here."

Mr Rosato lost his home while he was evacuating the 550 children from St Thomas's. The fire had come through a valley between St Columba's Catholic College [where Mr Rosato's 17-year-old twins were in lockdown for five hours] and St Thomas Aquinas, and was believed to be started by powerlines in Linksview Road.

Mr Rosato said he "had a strong sense that we didn't have a lot of time before it would be at the school".

He led his students and staff on a 2.5km walk to safety while flames closed in around the school, walking past Paulwood Avenue and on to Hawkesbury Road where several homes burned and out to the Winmalee Shopping Centre. Three children had asthma attacks and one disabled child had to be carried by a teacher almost the entire way during the exodus out to the shops, where donuts and other goodies were offered while they waited out the firestorm.

"The actions of Mr Serge Rosato were heroic and exceptional," said Archbishop-elect Anthony Fisher.

It's difficult to see the medal in the photo, but I found a better image on Wikipedia. -Editor

The Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (Latin: For Church and Pope) medal is an award of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also known as the "Cross of Honour". The medal was established by Leo XIII on July 17, 1888, to commemorate his golden sacerdotal jubilee and was originally bestowed on those men and women who had aided and promoted the jubilee, and by other means assisted in making the jubilee and the Vatican Exposition successful.

It is currently given for distinguished service to the church by lay people and clergy. It is the highest medal that can be awarded to the laity by the Pope.

To read the Wikipedia article, see:
Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Ecclesia_et_Pontifice)

To read the complete article, see:
Bushfire hero Serge Rosato awarded medal from the Pope (www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/2638879/bushfire-hero-serge-rosato-awarded-medal-from-the-pope/?cs=1180)

Wayne Homren, Editor

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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