Dear All,
Welcome back to the New Year! We have some stories below...those who experienced the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in December last year and also the YCS National Conference, which 5 from our diocese attended in January.
It is coming towards the end of the time for registering for World Youth Day in July, so please put in your expression of interest or let me know as soon as possible if you would like to attend.
Finally, we are all set for a fantastic Diocesan Youth Assembly in Whyalla, April 9-10. This year we have the special privilege of Steph Unger, who is a young Catholic singer-songwriter from Brisbane. She has produced a song using the words of many students in our diocese, who wrote about what 'mercy' means to them. She will be presenting at the Youth Assembly as well as performing a concert for the public. Put this on your calendar now!
Sr Elizabeth
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Registration for World Youth Day ending soon!
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Registrations for World Youth Day should be made by February 29th. Register at https://wyd2016.com.au/Register.aspx
Join the Port Pirie Diocese from 14 July – 4 August 2016 to celebrate World Youth Day in Poland! Journey to the sites of Poland, including Days in the Diocese from $6150 per person. The diocese and your parish can help you fundraise to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event.
See the full pilgrimage details at https://wyd2016.com.au/pilgrimages/diocese-of-port-pirie/2016/57001
The Catholic Office for Youth and Young Adults is offering four young South Australian Catholics the opportunity to receive a $1000 sponsorship towards being a pilgrim to World Youth Day in Krakow next year.
Anyone over the age of 18 interested in taking part in the 25-day pilgrimage from July 14 to August 7 is eligible for the $1000 sponsorships. They simply have to write in 150 words or less why they would like to attend World Youth Day.
Entries for the scholarships should be sent to Sarah Moffatt at the Youth Office sarah.moffatt@cesa.catholic.edu.au or 112 Kintore Street, Thebarton SA 5031. For enquiries, contact Sarah on 8301 6866.
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Show and Live Mercy- Youth Assembly
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Port Pirie Catholic Diocese
2016 Youth Assembly
Show and Live Mercy
Dates: 9-10 April
Venue: Samaritan College, Whyalla
Age: Grade 10 – 25 years
Special guest: Steph Unger
pop and liturgical singer-songwriter from Brisbane
Saturday 9th April
10am Registration Samaritan College
11am Steph Unger talk and workshop
1pm Lunch
2pm Service activities around town
5pm The Amazing Race
6:15pm Tea
7:15pm Evening Fun
9pm Evening prayer
Sunday 10th April
7:30pm Optional morning walk
8:15am Breakfast
9am Morning prayer
10am Preparation for Mass
11am Mass with Bishop
12:30pm Lunch
1:30pm Concert with Steph Unger
3pm End
Details for registration are at http://www.pp.catholic.org.au by 23 March
Donation towards costs: $20.
For more info: Sr Liz 0448 809 134 youthministry@pp.catholic.org.au
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Hey guys my name is Marwayne! So NatCon 2016! There were about 30 or so students who went to this year's YCS National Conference. We had representatives from Perth, Melbourne, Townsville, Parramatta Adelaide and Port Pirie diocese. This was at Casa Pallotti, a beautiful place somewhere in Melbourne.
Personally I could say that I learned more information this NatCon that I could take back to our diocese. We pick an issue which relates to our student reality and the world around us. Us students had to choose from Sexism, Environment and Racism/Islamophobia to be our campaign for the next 2 years. So yes! Environment! Environment is the campaign we would be working on. We also made aims that could get us a step forward towards our 2020 vision.
Fun side this NatCon! We did acts between sessions, we had a formal night/dinner and the best after party. I bet the Shark energiser will be the most fun energiser that everyone won't forget. We also had a talent night, the main event that night was the "Battle of the Dorms" where everyone did their group dorm acts and battled to be the winner!
YCS - Young Christian Students is a movement run by students with the support of adults and workers. Our Mission is to form young christian leaders through the review of life to bring forth the kingdom of God on Earth. We review and understand an issue then figure out a way to solve it with our actions.
Marwayne Nasayao, Port Augusta
The 2 YCS National Executive members chosen from the Port Pirie diocese were: Tessa Bernhardt and Miriam Santic.
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Feedback from the 2015 Australian Catholic Youth Festival
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David Green's presentation to the St Mary of the Angels parish in Port Lincoln
I was recently one of 3 young parishioners from the St Mary of the Angels Parish to attend the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Adelaide in early December.
We joined with Bishop Greg, Fths Harold and Paul, Sister Elizabeth, Seminarian Hau, and other members of the Port Pirie Diocese to attend this momentous event.
The theme of the Australian Catholic Youth Festival was from the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8).
3,500 young Catholics, dozens of Priests, Brothers, Nuns and 18 Bishops and Archbishops from all over the country, including our own Bishop Greg O’Kelly, joined together on the first day for the opening Plenary gathering in the Adelaide Convention Centre. There were five Plenary gatherings during the festival where everyone came together and celebrated as the young Church in Australia.
Attendees at the festival were provided with over 200 activities to participate in, including a diverse array of exceptional workshops, addressing topics such as asylum seekers, what it means to be wise, vocations and a talk about Saint Francis of Assisi and his life. Each and every one of these was highly informative and inspirational. The expo contained around 60 groups and organisations, varying from NET Ministries and the Jesuits through to the Sisters of Mercy and the Capuchin Friars. All of the exhibitors were very enthusiastic and were constantly engaging with the participants.
Highlights of the festival included; attending Mass at St Francis Xavier Cathedral and being selected as one of two parishioners chosen by each Bishop from their dioceses to join all 18 of them for dinner. This was an amazing and immensely enjoyable experience. Hearing Bishop Greg and Bishop Eugene Hurley take part in some gentle verbal jousting was a highlight of the evening as was meeting a number of the 18 Bishops and Archbishops present.
The keynote speakers during the festival were incredible. They included Sr Hilda Scott from NSW who, at a plenary, struggled to get three words out before everyone started cheering. Steve Angrisano, Fr Rob Galea and Gary and Natasha Pinto gave powerful musical performances, as did Genevieve Bryant, who wrote the theme song for the event.
Fr Morgan Batt, a priest from Brisbane who has climbed 126 mountains and said Mass on the North Face of Mount Everest, gave a unique perspective for the theme of the event, namely by abseiling down from the rafters during a plenary.
Another important part of the event was the friendships we formed with the other people from the diocese, including Barmera, Loxton and Whyalla. These are just as important as the workshops and plenaries, and remain one of the most valuable things that came out of the experience.
I would like to thank Father Steve and the St Mary of the Angels Parish Pastoral Council for their support, encouragement and financial assistance along with Sr Elizabeth and the other members of the Port Pirie diocese staff who did a fantastic job of coordinating us all.
The Australian Catholic Youth Festival 2015 was absolutely fantastic…we’ve even got the t-shirts.
Zara Nicholson
The plenary sessions were my favourite part of the festival, as there was such a variety of things to watch and experience. I most enjoyed the 'Trading your sorrows' session as I loved the singing and the stories of tragedies with God helping the unfortunate. I learned that being a catholic is fun.
Janyne Kemp
My favourite part of the festival was the music: meeting Natasha and Gary Pinto, because it was breath taking. I enjoyed the Catholic meditation session the most as it calmed the body and soul from stress. I learned how to show my presence more.
Katherine Stringer
My favourite parts were the plenary sessions and the speakers because of all the messages! I most enjoyed the sessions with Jason Evert and Sr Hilda Scott, as they have such a strong and clear message and I felt like they were speaking straight to me! Very moving messages!
Faustina Condon
The best part was the music and coming together of all the young people at the festival. The music was very engaging and I liked how everyone participated in everything. I most enjoyed the talk given by Jason Evert about chasity, because the talk was very engaging for me to listen to and made me feel better about been a Catholic and why the Catholic Church believes it is important to wait until marriage.
Tom Royals
All the singing and dancing was my favourite part, because it was all fun and made us all laugh. I most enjoyed the Jason Evert session because of the inspirational topics he talked about. I learned a lot more about my faith and wish the the festival could go longer then three days.
Marwayne Nasayao
My favourite part of the Festival was meeting heaps of people and knowing their stories. I most enjoyed the sessions on refugees and Genevieve Bryant, the musician. The speakers/performers shared their own story, talked about things we could do and influenced us. I learned how to help and respond with actions.
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