Generational change at Blackfriars
Schools
Blackfriars marked the completion of the biggest transformation of the school campus in decades with the opening and blessing of the Albert Centre.
Invited guests including Prior Provincial Father Dominic Murphy OP, Catholic Education SA director Neil McGoran, chair of the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools John Neate and MPs Steve Georganas and Lucy Hood gathered for the celebration on November 15, the feast day of St Albert the Great.
The Albert Centre, with the adjoining Aquinas Centre which opened in 2021, form the centrepiece of the school’s current masterplan and have delivered bright, contemporary, state-of-the art spaces for Blackfriars students and staff.
“There is a connection with the built form that is an expression of our humanity, of our ability to think, to invent, to dream and to construct,” Blackfriars principal David Ruggiero said at the opening and blessing.
“The building you have behind us is a reflection – in the way of a village to raise a child – of a collection of people who have come together to use their God-given gifts to create a wonderful space.
“It is wonderful to see this change and evolution in the school buildings, to reflect a place of learning and a place that gives honour and glory to God through the built form.
“May the Albert Centre echo God’s presence, in every beam, in every fish in the aquarium, in every brick and ray of light. And, most importantly, may God’s presence be echoed in you, the boys of Blackfriars and the staff who teach in the Albert Centre.”
Father Dominic Murphy OP blessed the centre and delivered the homily.
“Today, we bless the Albert Centre, named for St Albert the Great. There are not too many people in history who have the title ‘the Great’, but truly he was quite a special man,” Fr Dominic told the gathering.
“This great scientist, was, at the same time, a man of great faith. Faith not a hinderance to the search for truth, but an aid. There is sense to be made of the world, for the world is intended, the world is not random.
“So, a search for knowledge is a journey into the light, that, for Albert, leads to the divine. And I hope for you, too.”
The Albert Centre includes a commercial kitchen, new canteen and café space, a dedicated virtual reality suite, science labs, classrooms, a Year 9 student hub and in-built aquarium – complete with stingrays.
