Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Canberra (Agenzia Fides) – A partnership has been formed between Catholic Mission Australia (the Pontifical Mission Societies in Australia) and the Youth Ministry Conference of the Catholic schools, a group of professors, group leaders, and students from various Catholics schools all over Australia. PMS National Director in Australia, Martin Teulan, commented that the groups will be working together to increase awareness among the Catholics of Australia, regarding the mission.
In a recent assembly held in Canberra, over 140 educators and youth ministers from Catholic schools gathered for formation and planning of activities.
The PMS's presence has guaranteed the insertion of methods, events, and themes linked to evangelization in the programs of youth ministry aimed at Catholic school students of all ages. These events and programs usually include plays, video-clips, and musical initiatives that give the youth an important role in evangelizing their peers.
The initiative is part of a larger global plan of youth ministry which will be presented for use in the Church in Australia (see Fides 27/7/2009). The new guidelines for youth ministry were gathered in a new text entitled “Consecrated and Sent. An Australian View of Youth Ministry,” presented during on of the yearly gathering of movements and Australian lay groups, which is to be held every year on the anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's arrival in Sydney. The great WYD event in Sydney has contributed to the part in the text that speaks of the “youth as a gift...not a problem to solve.”
Recalling that the youth are an important part of Catholic Australia, the new Youth Ministry Plan is a blend of educational strategies to promote an encounter between the youth and Jesus Christ. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 8/9/2009)
