Keeping the faith with Catholic youth

The younger members of Australia's Catholic community came together to celebrate their faith at the 2015 Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF). Held at the Adelaide Convention Centre from December 3 to 5. We look back at this exciting event, which was the second of its kind since launching in Melbourne in 2013.

An exploration of youth's faith

Some 3,000 young people (from Year 9 students up to young adults aged 25) from across Australia attended this year's ACYF. Led by 18 bishops, the three-day festival was hosted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in partnership with the Archdiocese of Adelaide.

Central to the festival was the theme, the scriptural verse of 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.' (Matthew 5:8). Chosen by Pope Francis as the 2015 theme of the 30th World Youth Day, it is a preparation for the pilgrimage to Krakow in 2016.

Selfies for Refugees

The ACYF brought together a rich program of plenary sessions, workshops, talks, faith-based music, prayer experiences and much more. All of which aimed to inspire, challenge and encourage the young people in attendance to ask questions about and celebrate their faith together.

Among them was the CCI Personal Insurance stall where we were excited to be hosting our Selfies for Refugees fundraising initiative. This involved asking festival attendees to snap a selfie at the stall and upload it to the campaign gallery. For every selfie shared we donated $2 to the wonderful Welcome the Asylum Seeker Parish Support Program. (You can check out the gallery of Selfies for Refugees here.). What stood out to us most was the greatly collaborative nature of the event, with the Catholic community's leaders and educators working together and engaging in conversation with its youth.

Looking ahead to 2017

If you missed out this year, make sure you plan ahead for the next Australian Catholic Youth Festival, which is set to take place in Sydney in December 2017. The event will mark the launch of a national Year of Youth.