Every boy he has met on his long College journey is intent on finding some form of meaning for his life. “Everyone wants to find values to commit to – not something that is inflicted, but something that they can decide about themselves.” Whereas previously boys would have arrived at College with a basic understanding of Christianity, now they often had lesser knowledge – and also fewer prejudices – and it frequently took some time for them to untangle Christmas from Easter. “The greatest challenge for me is to have been able to constantly make sure the Christian dimension is front and centre. And to show them that being a Christian doesn’t stop you having fun and an enjoyable life – in fact, it’s an integral part.” Bosco hopes the boys see him
as having integrity – “when I fall short, I think I say I fall short”. He cites among his memorable moments having a student studying Stage 2 Theology at the University of Canterbury before he left College, and then going on
and a social media presence followed by Barack Obama, Ellen DeGeneres, John Key and others), Bosco also recognises the difficulties it presents to youth. “The online digital world is a very powerful medium, and while great for religious education, it can also be very destructive. Helping them to navigate, dealing with damaging social media (bullying, comparison with the carefully curated images of others, trying to live up their own online persona), and giving them the tools to discriminate truth from falsehood online, this has all been part of my role.” With that task over, Bosco and Helen hope to have more New Zealand and overseas adventures while Bosco continues his priestly vocation in a different way for this new chapter.
to study and practice law. And he is proud to have
introduced the two student lay representatives at the annual Anglican Synod, one with speaking rights and one able to both speak and vote. “But most of the successes have been getting alongside individual students, seeing them moving from struggling with things to being a confident young men.” An advocate for the online world (in fact, he has his own website, liturgy.co.nz, which focuses on spirituality and worship and receives about 1000 visits a day,
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