Lest we forget

Anzac Day marks the landing of Australian and New Zealand forces at Gallipoli in 1915. That campaign, defined by extraordinary loss, has come to represent something enduring in our national character: courage, loyalty, service and care for others. These qualities speak to the everyday choices we make about how we treat one another, and how we respond when faced with challenge or uncertainty.

Grounded in faith

As a Catholic community, we hold this remembrance within the wisdom of our tradition. Pope John XXIII, whose name our College proudly bears, wrote directly to a world overshadowed by conflict in his encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth). He reminded the world that true peace is built on truth, justice, love and freedom; that peace is about the presence of right relationships among people and nations. Those words remain strikingly relevant today.

This vision has found a contemporary echo in the voice of Pope Leo XIV, who has called for a renewed global commitment to peace grounded in human dignity and shared responsibility. His emphasis on justice, solidarity and care for the vulnerable reminds us that peace begins in the human heart and is sustained by courageous action.

Reflection from our guest speaker

Our guest speaker, Kate Chaney MP, Federal Member for Curtin, brought the meaning of Anzac Day to life through her own family story, one that has a strong connection to our College.

Her great-grandfather, Alfred Bond, was a Perth hardware store worker who left behind a young wife and baby daughter to serve in 1915. He did not come back. His daughter (Kate's grandmother) grew up without a father, supported by an aunt who sacrificed her own future to hold the family together. War, as Kate reminded us, carries costs that are rarely visible and never simple.

Yet from that loss, something lasting grew. Alfred Bond now has 87 direct descendants. Thirty-three of them have been students at John XXIII College, with several present in our community today.

'I named my son Alfred after him, so that we would keep remembering.'

— Kate Chaney MP, Federal Member for Curtin

Kate offered two reasons why we commemorate Anzac Day. The first is to recommit ourselves to peace; to remember the loss, the waste and the horror of war as a reminder that armed conflict must always be the very last resort. The second is to appreciate the freedoms we have inherited and to accept the responsibility that comes with them.

She put the question directly to our students: if someone had faced death to defend this country, how would they want their descendants to live a century into the future?

Her answer was both simple and challenging. They would want us to appreciate what we have been given. They would want us to make the most of our opportunities. And they would want us to make the world a better place, not through grand gestures, but through the everyday choices we make toward the people around us.

'Everything you do changes the world a little bit for the people around you – for better or worse. You have the power to change their world.'

— Kate Chaney MP, Federal Member for Curtin

Remembrance is formative

Our ceremony reminded us that remembrance is formative. It shapes the kind of people we are becoming and the kind of world we hope to build.

At John XXIII College, we are guided by the conviction that education must prepare students not only for academic achievement but for lives of purpose and service. The spirit of Anzac – courage, loyalty, sacrifice for others – finds a natural home within the Ignatian tradition that shapes everything we do.

May we honour those we remember with lives committed to seeking justice, service, reconciliation and peace. In the spirit of John XXIII College, may we continue to grow as people of competence, conscience and compassion – people for others – confident that even in uncertain times, hope remains possible.