It was the happiest of celebrations, a pleasing intermingling of the best and brightest of youth today with the memor y of a priest from another time whose initiative, commitment and faith resulted in the founding of the Catholic Development Fund in 1956. The occasion was the presentation of the first annual Fr James Wall Student Leadership awards on 13th March 2003 at CDF head office. Archbishop Denis Hart was on hand to present $2500 bursaries to each of the following Year 11 students:

• Luke Apollonio, Mazenod College, Mulgrave
• Beth Edwards, Kilbreda College, Mentone
• Evan Jones, Mackillop College, Werribee
• Lauren Pattison, St Monica’s College, Epping

The Archbishop commended each student on their achievements and encouraged them to "set your sights high and keep dreaming big dreams!"

The bursaries will assist with school fees and other expenses incurred in Years 11 and 12. Colleges throughout the Archdiocese nominated a student who demonstrated leadership potential in a range of academic and community areas. Winners were selected by a panel from the Catholic Education Office.

John Hurren, General Manager, CDF, introduced the proceedings by recalling the impact the late Fr James Wall as first Secretary/Administrator of CDF had on Catholic Church Development Funds. Mr Hurren said, "The strength and vitality of the Church Development Fund movement today is largely due to the solid foundation of strict, professional business ethics which Father Wall put in place".

Susan Pascoe, Director of Catholic Education, detailed a partial list of each student’s many and varied achievements.

The Archbishop voiced praise for the Fr James Wall Bursary initiative, established by CDF following Fr Wall’s death in January 2002. Archbishop Hart said, "Father Wall was a priest for all seasons!

Whenever there were big challenges to be met, they were thrown at Jim Wall!" The Archbishop added that Father Wall met challenges in a manner which was a "constant reminder of the bigness of priesthood in the man".

Father Wall’s relatives joined in the festivities with Bernadette Franc adding a pleasing personal insight about her uncle, "He never once went on about his own attributes and talents and any praise ever lavished on him, he would simply laugh it off."