"Like Pope John Paul left his family at the early age of 18, I escaped from the struggles in Vietnam after Grade 10 and started a life in Canada," said Nguyen.

He told students to look to the newly beatified Blessed John Paul II for guidance.

"Pope John Paul II is a great example for how we should live out our faith," he said.

Among guests joining Nguyen for the celebrations were Fr. Octavio Beltran, pastor at St. Thomas More Church, Spiritan Father Pat Fitzpatrick, the school’s founding principal Paul Howard, trustee Nancy Crawford and Fr. John Szura from the Philippines.

"When I first heard that the new school would be named after Pope John Paul II, little did I think that we would be gathering here almost 28 years later to celebrate his sanctity with the title blessed, one step away from sainthood," said Howard.

Howard said that everything Pope John Paul II had gone through during his life is a "lesson that his tragedy is our strength, to persevere through doubts, deaths, uncertainty, with the conviction that God will look after us."

School co-chaplain Kathleen McGill said the school community is incredibly blessed to have Pope John Paul II as the patron of the school.

"The beatification of Pope John Paul II afforded us the luxury of being able to pause from the daily routine of school life and celebrate as a community the greatness of Pope John Paul II," she said.

Along with the school choir singing a tribute song and a video tribute, various students and faculty spoke about Blessed John Paul II’s life and the meaning of the beatification. The celebration culminated with Nguyen offering a blessing to the school community.

Grade 12 student Nisha Thomas appreciated hearing Nguyen’s story.

"I found it interesting the way he related his life to the life of Pope John Paul II," she said.

Deepak Wilson, a Grade 10 student, said he was honoured that Nguyen wanted to "come see us and our school."