Friends,

This regular newsletter will keep clergy, staff and youth leaders in the Archdiocese of Melbourne regularly updated as we journey to the Australian Catholic Youth Festival.

In the last fortnight your parish should have received a hardcopy of the ACYF Parish Pack. This resource kit has been developed just for parishes, communities and movements in our Archdiocese, providing a roadmap to ACYF 2025.

The Roadmap proposes four phases on the journey to the Festival: pray and discern, invite, form and send!

Take the first step by praying for potential young people to open their hearts and consider making this pilgrimage. Discern who you will invite to be leaders and pilgrims.

'You have a place in our church. You have a place at ACYF.' Who will you pass the Archbishop's invitation on to? Watch the video here and share it with young people at your next Mass or youth gathering.

Ready to register? What's the Festival program? Who are the keynote speakers and performers? Registrations have opened, the Festival program and the first wave of speakers have been released including Sr Mary Grace SV, Katie Prejean McGrady and Fr Rob Galea.

Access the Parish Pack digitally here. In particular, the roadmap will help kickstart your journey of preparing a group to the Festival.

Keep your leaders updated. Have you nominated your leaders? Send their email address to proclaim@cam.org.au so they can receive this regular email.

Need support in getting started? Book a parish visit! Proclaim: The Office for Mission Renewal are here to support you. We are eager to share about the Festival to your community. Arrange a visit through this form here.

Here's what's coming up for young people as we make the journey to ACYF:

Get started on the Promo Challenge, found in your parish pack, and you will be in the running for some great prizes. (Including one free registration...)

Fr Jean-Sébastien Géry, from the Mulgrave and Wheelers Hill parishes, has a new ACYF bumper sticker! And down the road at St Benedict's in Burwood, news is already spreading. Thanks for getting the word out about ACYF throughout your parishes and beyond!