Australian primary students send Pope Leo XIV a homemade quilt
By Kielce Gussie
Macadamia nuts, wine, biscuits, and a handmade quilt. In addition to presenting his credentials to Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday, the new Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, Keith Pitt, brought little pieces of his country to the Vatican.
Meeting the Pope
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind following Pope Francis’ death, the conclave, and the beginning of Pope Leo’s pontificate. In the midst of all this change, Ambassador Pitt was settling into his new role as Australia's Representative to the Holy See and preparing for his first meeting with the new Pontiff.
“The presentation of credentials has a lot of protocol and ceremony around it,” Ambassador Pitt explained in an interview with Vatican News afterward. His family and staff all arrived at the Vatican in vehicles sporting both the Vatican and Australian flags.
After being escorted to the Apostolic Palace by the Swiss Guards, the Ambassador had a private audience with the Pope, whom he described as “very considerate and very engaging.” He highlighted that the Pope's “appointment has been very warmly received by Australia.”
'Everyone knows the kangaroo'
What was unique to this meeting was that Ambassador Pitt did not just present his official papers. He filled the Vatican with “flavors of Australia.”
The new Ambassador presented the Pope with foods representing the country: Macadamia nuts, Bundaberg rum (made in the Ambassador’s home region of Queensland), rum and raisin chocolates, homemade ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) biscuits, red wine, and Tim Tams (a chocolate biscuit).
Perhaps the most memorable of the gifts was a quilt made by students at a primary school found xix hours north of the capital of Queensland—Brisbane—in a small town called Tannum Sands.
There, children from the St. Francis Catholic Primary School “managed to stitch all these panels together, so each class put one panel on one side, and on the other side were drawings of all the animals they see at their school.”
Kangaroos, goannas (large lizards), magpies, kookaburras all lined the beautifully knit quilt that Ambassador Pitt’s brother—who is a teacher at the school—managed to bring over with just one week’s notice.
Noticing the wild variety of animals, Pope Leo asked if any were missing from the quilt, and the Ambassador’s brother joked that there are “deadly snakes every now and again, but it’s Australia and it’s to be expected.”
A touching message
What Ambassador Pitt said touched him most was simply that these young students took the time to make the quilt. “They’ve drawn these panels, and for them to recognize that there is a new Pope and to want to send a message to him, I just thought was remarkable,” he shared.
The Ambassador described the Pope as genuinely interested in what the images represented: kids playing in the background as kangaroos bounce around.
Invitation for a visit 'Down Under'
When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Pope Leo XIV within his first 24 hours as Pontiff, he extended an invitation to the Pope to visit the Land Down Under.
“It was quite a thing, but there hadn’t been a meeting between an Australian Prime inister and a Pope for some 16 years,” Ambassador Pitt pointed out.
In his private meeting with the Pope, the Ambassador reiterated this warm invitation, even though it would not be the Pontiff’s first trip to Australia.
Pope Leo XIV told Ambassador Pitt that “he has been to Australia a number of times, and in fact, he spoke about a trip between Brisbane and Sydney by car,” which takes about 10 hours.
Even though such an occasion would not be his first visit to the country, Ambassador Pitt emphasized that the Pope “would be very warmly welcomed if he returned.”
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
