A locally-published book has made its way from Okotoks to the Vatican.
Holy Trinity Academy graduate and author Mackenzie Neufeld had the opportunity to bring her book, From Physics to Faith, to Rome and gift it to Pope Francis in the Vatican on Sept. 20.
"We were in a private room near his living quarters, so we got escorted in by some of the guards and then we were there for about an hour with him," said Neufeld.
"It felt very special and intimate," she continued. "He was very kind and he held my hand, and then gave me a rosary, and it was very personal."
As her gift to the Pope, Neufeld offered a signed copy of her 2021 memoir From Physics to Faith, complete with a special message written in Spanish for the Argentinian bishop of Rome's reading pleasure.
"I wrote it when I was 16 and published it when I was 18," said Neufeld, a 2020 grad. "It shows my faith journey, because I grew up atheist... and found my faith on my own through science and physics.
"I feel like my book is a special part of me and my story, so I wanted to give it to him."
The meeting was part of a two-week empowerment summit in Europe through the International Movement of Catholic Students Pax Romana, during which participants attended conferences and hosted discussions on pressing matters such as world peace, environmental issues and increasing youth involvement in the Catholic Church.
"Two of us were chosen per country," she explained, adding that she made friends across the world thanks to the experience. "We had our empowerment summit in France and then a peace council in Rome, and during our time in Rome we went to the Vatican."
Neufeld was selected for the International Movement of Catholic Students summit after being elected as a member of the Canadian Catholic Students' Association last year.
Neufeld is in her final year of undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta, where she is pursuing a degree in honours philosophy with a minor in Christian theology after serving as president of the St. Joseph Catholic Students' Association last year.
After graduating, she hopes to enrol in a graduate program in Toronto and pursue a career in academia.
"I've always wanted to be a professor," Neufeld said. "I did start out wanting to be a physics professor and now a philosophy professor."
From Physics to Faith is available for purchase on Amazon.