The 2025 Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) has recently come to a close. Over 6,000 young people from Year 9 through to 25 years old gathered from all over Australia – from remote regional areas as well as major cities.
The theme of Pilgrims of Hope spread across the entire festival from the plenaries, workshops, Bishop’s exchanges and liturgical celebrations. The festival provided opportunities for the young people to “Encounter-Evangelise-Listen-Experience”.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph have been involved since the inaugural Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Melbourne 2013. This year we partnered with the Mary MacKillop Spirituality Ministry (MMSM) in a booth where we provided insight into the life of Mary MacKillop and gave participants an opportunity to have a photo with a life size cut out of Mary. Over 700 young people engaged with two small quizzes – one on the life of Mary MacKillop, and the other about Religious Life in general.
ACYF’s emphasis on justice, service and outreach, challenges the youth to bring their faith beyond the walls of the Church: to live Gospel values in everyday life, to build community, and to contribute to a more just, and hopeful society.
A workshop titled, Mary MacKillop: A Pilgrim of Hope provided a place for the young people to hear about the life of Mary MacKillop, through the journeys in her life, and how she lived her life trusting in the Providence of God. Mary’s path was never straightforward or easy. It was marked by long distances, uncertainty, sacrifice and an unshakable trust in God’s providence. The participants explored how Mary’s journeys took her across rugged landscapes, dusty roads, rough seas, from the city of Melbourne to the outback of South Australia, from rural communities to Rome itself. In every place she went, Mary carried a message of hope, compassion and education for those most in need.
The young people were delighted to see a recorded message from Pope Leo XIV where he emphasised the quality of human relationships, and to seek role models such as Saints Carlo Acutis, Pier Giorgio Frassati and Mary MacKillop – who are examples of the way they can follow Jesus in their lives. More than 25 Bishops, 150 priests and 45 Religious Brothers and Sisters were present and interacted with the youth for the three days of ACYF.
Hope is most definitely alive in the sense of mission in the young people of Australia. The festival reminds us that the youth are not just future members of the Church, but are present day contributors of hope and transformation.
My invitation to you is to find a young person in your community/parish who attended ACYF and share with them in their journey of faith. They are living out their call of hope, faith and love.
Sr Rita Malavisi