Tag Archives: Office for Youth

Local, international research to help guide youth ministry Office for Youth

Fr Chris Ryan MGL, chairman of the Australian Catholic Youth Council Research Task Group, will speak at the research seminar.

Researchers from Australia and the United States will present their findings on how young people perceive and engage with the Catholic Church during one of a series of significant events that will be held during the Year of Youth.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s Office for Youth, in partnership with the Archdiocese of Brisbane and the Australian Catholic University, will host the two-day youth and youth ministry research seminar in Brisbane next month. Continue reading →

One Year to Go to Australia’s Biggest Catholic Youth Festival in Sydney

acyf17-logo_200One year from today, thousands of young people will gather for the final Mass of the Australian Catholic Youth Festival to be held in Sydney from 7 to 9 December 2017.

The three-day Festival is a youthful and energetic celebration hosted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in partnership with the Archdiocese of Sydney. The surrounding dioceses and Catholic agencies are generously supporting this whole of Church celebration.

The event will be held at Sydney Olympic Park and at other key locations in the city. It is expected to attract 15,000 young people who will celebrate their faith together while also acknowledging ten years since Sydney hosted World Youth Day in 2008. Continue reading →

Highlights from the Australian Gathering at World Youth Day 2016

IMG_8987_OpMore than 3,000 young people from across the Australian dioceses and half of the Australian Catholic bishops gathered at Tauron arena on Tuesday 26 July 2016 to celebrate their faith, national identity and the beginning of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.

The two-hour gathering was filled with prayer, testimonies from young people, music and catechesis. Bishop Patrick O’Regan preached the homily and Bishop Peter Comensoli delivered a ‘call to action’ to young young. Two young people, Chris Lee from Parramatta diocese and Sr Elizabeth from Port Pirie diocese, gave witness to how they have received God’s mercy in their lives. Their authentic accounts described how we can discover God’s mercy when we show mercy to others, it is through our acts of mercy that God reveals his merciful heart to us. Sr Elizabeth said, ‘I thought by being committed to God, I would simply receive his mercy’.

Bishop Mark Edwards, Australian Bishops Delegate for Youth; Kelly Paget, Diocese of Broken Bay and Sunil Mohanaraj, Archdiocese of Adelaide were the MC’s.

Genevieve Bryant, Fr Rob Galea and the Salvatorians Soul band provided the festival music that had the entire gathering on their feet within seconds. Malcolm Hart, Director of the ACBC Office for Youth, unveiled an invitation to all of the young people to get involved in the the ‘Year of Youth’ 2018.

There was a beautiful period of reflection as the musicians sang a decade of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Watch highlights from the Australian gathering below.

The Australian gathering can be viewed online via a web cast from Xt3.

Making dreams come true

Hero picture at past World Youth DayTwelve lucky young pilgrims from across the country have been awarded sponsorship to attend World Youth Day in Poland from 25 – 31 July this year.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), Office for Youth and the World Youth Day (WYD) Committee today announced twelve recipients of the ‘Pilgrim Support Program’.

The Pilgrim Support Program aims to support young people who may never ordinarily have had the opportunity to travel to World Youth Day. The program is funded by the ACBC, Catholic Church Insurance and Cosmos, the official tour operator for the Australian pilgrimage to WYD.

Pilgrims were nominated by their Bishops and Youth Ministry leaders. The selection criteria for the program included two key elements; providing opportunities for personal and spiritual development and identifying emerging youth ministry leaders. Continue reading →