The Mary MacKillop Spirituality Ministry partnered with the Sisters of Saint Joseph in sponsoring the Australian Catholic Youth Festival 2025 in Melbourne. With over 6,000 young Australians in attendance, we were thrilled to connect with so many 15-25-year-olds from remote regional areas and 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”.
As part of our sponsorship, we had an exhibitor booth where we provided insights into the life of Mary MacKillop and allowed participants to take a photo with a life-size cutout of Mary. Over 700 young people engaged with two short quizzes – one on the life of Mary MacKillop and the other on Religious Life in general – and over 1,000 ‘Selfies with a Saint’ were taken.
Here, Sister Rita Malavisi provides her insights into the Festival experience.
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
We would like to thanks the ACYF team for running such an exceptional event, our MMSM team members for planning and participating in the Festival, and of course, the Pilgrams, whose enthusiasm and engagement made our time in Melbourne so successful.