Australian Catholic Youth Festival 2019

On December 8th to 11th, the 2019 Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) was held in Perth. Some 6000 young Catholics from all over the country got together to share and grow in their faith and lives. They worshipped through prayer, liturgy and music while also receiving great formations and enjoying a huge variety of activities.

A group of about 30 students from around the Ryde Gladesville area participated while being accompanied by their teachers and Fr Greg and Br Steve from the parish.


Here are some of their thoughts on an amazing couple of days:


"ACYF is the best thing I’ve ever done, I met the nicest people and it was amazing to be surrounded by people of like mind. It was so fun and I learnt so much about myself and my relationship with God, I definitely made the most of my time there and cannot wait to attend another one and catch up with the people I met!" – Caitlin

"ACYF was the best experience of my life. I got to meet so many new people and became friends with many more. It also helped me to better my relationship with people I already knew and God. The highlight was probably the plenaries at the start and end of the day because of just how there were so many people in one space, all there just because of their faith and having a good time." – Daniel


"ACYF was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life because of the incredible atmosphere of like minded people and the incredible speakers who have helped me to grow into the person I am now. A highlight for me was when all the leaders (i.e. teachers and youth ministers) were told to stand up and raise their hands over the people they were looking after for. It just reminded me that so many people pray for me, in a world that tells us we are alone in our faith it was such a nice reminder that so many people love us and support us in our faith journeys." – Seamus