About 50 young people from the Diocese of Camden were among the 16,000 to attend this year’s National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.
Well, 16,000 plus one pope.
“Your voices, your ideas, your faith matter right now, and the Church needs you,” Pope Leo XIV told the thousands of high school and college-age students who traveled from across the country to attend NCYC from Nov. 20-22 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“One of my own personal heroes, one of my favorite saints, is Saint Augustine of Hippo,” the pope said via livestream from Rome. “He searched everywhere for happiness, but nothing satisfied him until he opened his heart to God. That is why he wrote, ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.’”
The pope responded to questions from five U.S. high school students – questions that were developed in meetings with other students and adults and were sent to the pope in advance.
Sara LoCasale, a 12-grader from Saint Katharine Drexel Parish, Egg Harbor Township, not only helped to craft and select some of those questions – she was invited to sit onstage with about 30 other young people during the final round of digital discussion with Pope Leo.
From the experience – and the entire NCYC, she learned, “that God is patiently waiting for us to make the move to open up to Him.”
Patience was on full display as the Diocese’s youth – from Saint Katharine Drexel and Our Lady of Peace Parish, Williamstown – and chaperones boarded a bus the night of Nov. 19 for the 12-hour drive to Indianapolis. Among the adults were Millet LoCasale and Catalina Morales, youth ministry leaders for Saint Katharine Drexel and Our Lady of Peace, respectively; and Father Stephen Robbins, a director of vocations for the Diocese and parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Camden.
High school sophomore Cameron Quinn, a parishioner of Our Lady of Peace, said one lesson he would take away from the experience was trust.
“I learned through this NCYC how God is truly all-knowing, and therefore, I should trust Him more to better fulfill my vocation – whatever it may be – rather than trying to figure out everything on my own,” he said.
Fellow parishioner Carmen Radcliff, a ninth-grader, agreed. “I learned that God’s love is always with me, even when I feel unsure or distracted by everyday life. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in a new way through the music, the speakers and the prayers, which reminded me that God is always listening and guiding me.”
“God showed His love for me these past few days by giving me moments of peace, joy and connection with other young people, which helped me feel part of a bigger Catholic community,” Radcliff continued.
After attending NCYC, Radcliff hopes to spend more intentional time in prayer, reading the Bible, and reflecting on how to live the Catholic faith every day.
Reflecting on the digital encounter with Pope Leo, high school junior Geo Depaor, a parishioner of Saint Katharine Drexel, hopes to become more active in youth activities.
“I think Pope Leo’s messages were the most important messages I’ve heard from a leader,” Depaor said. “Pope Leo emphasized that young people [need] to lead … in the Church.”
Emma Baird, a ninth grader from Saint Katharine Drexel, was already taking the lesson of leadership to heart. She was one of four teens from the parish to serve as youth ambassadors at NCYC.
“During this trip, I learned that God is always there, but that He will never push to be close to you. I learned that we were built for a life to be lived with Him,” she said.
Returning home, she said, “I will definitely be trying to be more open with Him and more willing to just stop and take a moment to listen to what He is telling me. [I want to] grow closer to God through my prayer and to connect with Him more frequently. I also want to use this to share with my fellow parishioners and family and friends.”
After three days of prayer, community, sacraments, music and breakout sessions with internationally known faith leaders, NCYC concluded with a Mass the evening of Nov. 22.
Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia, who celebrated the Mass alongside 25 of his brother bishops and more than 240 priests, said, “Tonight, we experienced the Church in its splendor.”
He reminded the crowd to listen to what the pope said to them. “‘Think of your closest friends. If they were hurting, you would walk with them, listen, and stay close,’ the pope said. Our relation with Jesus is similar. He knows when life feels heavy, even when we do not feel his presence, our faith tells us he is there.”
Catholic News Service contributed to this report.
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