Young pilgrims heading east
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Hundreds of young people from the Archdiocese of Adelaide will head to Melbourne later this month to take part in a national festival bringing together thousands of pilgrims from across Australia.
The Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) begins on Sunday November 30 when the pilgrims (mostly aged 15 to 25) meet for the opening Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral before walking to the festival venue at the vast Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in the Docklands.
Pilgrims will carry the World Youth Day Cross and Icon – gifted to the youth of the world by Pope John Paul II.
Hosted by the Archdiocese of Melbourne, it will be the first ACYF since 5500 young people attended the 2019 festival in Perth. The previous festival was held at the Adelaide Convention Centre in 2015.
Melbourne’s Archbishop Peter A Comensoli expressed his excitement about welcoming pilgrims.
“We can’t wait to see the streets of Melbourne alive with thousands of young pilgrims from all across Victoria and Australia during this great Jubilee Year of Hope,” he said.
“To all who are preparing for the festival – in our schools, parishes and communities – thank you for your dedication and support.”
Among the Adelaide contingent will be a group of 12 young people from Hectorville parish, led by assistant priest Fr Anthony Beltrame and Parish Pastoral Council member Felicia Adikea, 27.
Unlike many attendees, it won’t be Felicia’s first ACYF as she went to her hometown festival in 2015. But she expects it to be a different experience this time.
“I don’t think I had a personal faith with Jesus when I went before (to Adelaide),” she said.
“I think I had a different posture in my heart. My heart is open to receive the Lord (now).”
Felicia attends Mass daily and is particularly keen on attending Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Jacinta Best, 25, who met Felicia when she was singing at a healing Mass at St Peter Claver’s Church in Dulwich, is also attending the festival.
It will be her first experience, having only been baptised into the Catholic faith at Easter last year. Jacinta attends St Luke’s Church in Noarlunga and sometimes accompanies her grandmother, who introduced her to the Catholic Church, at Willunga.
Also new to the youth festival is Michaela Howard-Jones, a Diocesan youth ministry support officer with the Catholic Office for Youth and Young Adults (COYYA).
Michaela will be attending with Sylvia Nguyen from COYYA and they will be on hand to provide young Adelaide pilgrims with guidance and support.
“There may be high school students who have not travelled away from home before and so it will be a new world for them,” Michaela said.
The Adelaide Archdiocese and Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) have given grants to 33 young people to help them cover the $345 fees and costs associated with attending the festival.
Michaela said she was looking forward to seeing the different expressions of faith at the festival.
“We can live in a bubble, I’m most excited to see what other people are doing,” she said.
“I will be learning alongside everybody who is also going for the first time.”
Before the festival begins, Adelaide pilgrims will have the chance to gather with Archbishop Patrick O’Regan on November 13 to network and prepare for the pilgrimage.
And shortly after the festival has finished, there will be an ACYF gathering on February 5 to see how this experience can impact and help young people and to discuss how actions might be enacted locally.
The ACYF is a national initiative established by the bishops more than 10 years ago. It combines traditional and innovative approaches to help young people better understand the Catholic faith through prayer, justice activities, music, conversation and more.
The 2025 festival is shaped around the foundations of ‘Encounter, Evangelise, Listen and Experience’.
There will be the chance for celebration and learning through music, with keynote addresses from dynamic speakers including Cardinal Bychok CSsR, the Bishop of Wagga Wagga, Mark Edwards OMI, and award-winning author and radio show host, Katie Prejean McGrady.
Much of the three days will be spent meeting other young people with more than 100 workshops offering a ‘choose your own adventure’ experience. Options are wide-ranging and include an Outside the Chapel: Live Podcast that gives participants the chance to be part of a live recording.
A Sacred Spaces option will offer different prayer types and experiences, reflection and participation in the sacraments, including a dedicated Festival Chapel. Another highlight will be the Expo and Justice Activity Centre where young people can connect with a wide variety of organisations and groups from across the Church in Australia.
The three-day festival will conclude on Tuesday December 2 with a final Commissioning Mass.
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