Students from St Ignatius Riverview and St Aloysius in Sydney were in Canberra last week to witness the Federal Government's apology to the Stolen Generations.
A group of 12 students from St Ignatius Riverview and two from St Aloysius journeyed to Canberra to witness the apology.
Highlighting the trip in last week's school bulletin, Riverview Principal Shane Hogan urged parents at the school to support the government's efforts to reconcile with Australia's Indigenous people.
He said the journey to Canberra was about giving the school's support to the process of saying sorry.
‘Symbolically our school was in Canberra', he said. ‘Together, we watched it on television. It is important that you remember this, that we as a Jesuit school, we as the Catholic Church, we as a faith believe it was right to say sorry. In fact, the Church said sorry many years ago.'
Many families would have debated the appropriateness of the apology, said Mr Hogan, but it is important to remember the heart of the issue.
‘When it comes to apologising to Indigenous Australians, I believe it is not wrong to say we are sorry for what happened; what is wrong is that it has taken 30 years to say this.'
He highlighted how, since the 1990s, Riverview College has been providing support to young indigenous men. This, he said, is about providing a new start.
‘The Prime Minister said the most important thing in saying sorry is to start with the young ones and to start with a good education', said Mr Hogan.