Can you please introduce yourself and your role in organising the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) last December?
My name is Rachel Prince, and I’m the Youth & Schools Engagement Officer for Victoria and Tasmania with Catholic Mission. For ACYF, I was part of a Justice Expo sub-committee, helping to design and deliver the Justice Activity Centre experience.
Why was it important for you to be involved in the festival?
ACYF is one of the few spaces where young people from across Australia gather to experience God’s mission as vibrant, diverse, and alive. Being involved was important to me because it allowed Catholic Mission to be present in a way that was authentic and relational, not just speaking to young people, but listening, walking alongside them, and inviting them into mission.
How would you describe the energy at the festival, and was there a particular moment that stayed with you?
The energy was joyful, open, and deeply hopeful. One moment that has really stayed with me was when a young student came up to our space holding a Sockball he had made himself. He told us he had taken it to his Bishop to have it blessed and that he wanted to gift it to us. It was such a simple gesture, yet incredibly powerful, because it showed a young person who had truly taken ownership of mission, not because he was asked to, but because something had been stirred within him.
How do you see young Australians shaping the next generation of the Church, and do you notice any signs of transformation?
Young Australians are shaping the Church through their desire for authenticity, inclusion, and action. They are deeply attentive to justice, relationships, and lived faith, and they are quick to disengage when faith feels disconnected from real life. Rather than asking young people to fit into the Church, we are invited to recognise that God’s mission is already unfolding in their lives, and to help them discern where they are being called to join in.
How can we ensure young Australians stay active in the Church and feel empowered to continue its mission in the future?
We need to keep creating spaces where young people are known, trusted, and formed. When young people are called by name, accompanied with care, and trusted with God’s mission, they don’t simply stay connected to the Church, they step into leadership with confidence and generosity. Our role is to walk beside them, to resource and form them, and to believe deeply in what God is already doing within them. When the Church has the courage to notice, invite, and affirm young people in this way, it discovers not just the future of the Church, but the movement of the Holy Spirit already alive in the world.
