"Seeing our Group Leaders walk alongside young pilgrims, offering guidance, support and safe spaces for faith to flourish, filled me with such joy. I’m truly grateful for their remarkable contribution to our pilgrimage," said Claire Spinelli, Youth Ministry Team Leader. 

Here, we share some reflections from these inspiring Leaders.

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 A shaft of light broke through and into the everyday lives of thousands of young people. It was an unmistakable movement of the Holy Spirit bringing a new encounter with Jesus and one another within the embrace of the Church - Pope Leo who sent a personal video message, all the Bishops of Australia, all the adult leaders shepherding and supporting groups of young people to and through the experience, all the Church agencies and movements that helped make it possible (especially our schools).

It was a festival as the name says. That was evident from the first gathering in and around St Patrick's Cathedral... music, singing, the buzz of connecting with others, the meeting of the young church from around the country, and prayer.

If that didn't signal that this was a different experience of Church, the pilgrimage walk of 6000 to the Convention Centre certainly did - this was big. We must have spread over a kilometre.

The next two days were filled with songs of praise and worship, talks, teaching and workshops, testimonies of God's impact in people's lives - young people, bishops, priests, religious, laity.

It is hard to describe the energy of 6000 in plenary session in a tiered theatre responding to all this vibrance, but it was vibrance reciprocated and magnified.

The prayer times were special, not only in the plenary sessions but in the rooms where Mass was celebrated multiple times a day and the space for silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The final Mass and Commissioning had a deep impact.

What made a big difference for our Sandhurst pilgrims was the preparation and formation done in local settings in the leadup. This culminated in special GTKY and reflection/ prayer gathering on the Saturday night and Sunday morning before ACYF began. Our Sandhurst groups and leaders were gelling and becoming spiritually prepared. Sharing meals together at Queen's College and at the Convention Centre built relationships and made spaces for deeper conversations - so simple yet profoundly important.

That became evident in the final session with our young Sandhurst pilgrims at Queen's College prior to travelling home. The conversation was rich and real. The topics included 'how do we speak of this experience back home?' These young people and their adult leaders had been touched by the Holy Spirit over these days. Something new was growing. Jesus was real and close.

Reiterating a huge thanks to Claire and the youth ministry team for coordinating the Sandhurst ACYF Pilgrimage in partnership with great expertise and generosity from leaders, especially the team from CESL, and Fr Junray and the other three priests who were Chaplains to the group.

I look forward to building on this life-changing encounter in the work of youth ministry in the Diocese in 2026.

Geoff Gowdie
Assistant Director, Mission and Pastoral Life.

For me, ACYF this year brought back memories of the very first ACYF in 2013 (do you remember, Mr Lindsay?) I had forgotten how important it was to be together in our faith journey. For our young pilgrims, ACYF 2025 may have been a new experience of encountering others in faith; for me, it was a little nostalgic; a reunion event – being once again among those young adults: priests, brothers, sisters and laypeople with whom I journeyed together “back then”. We’re just a bit older now, and our roles have changed. It was an experience that held both the past and the future, and I am reassured once again that God was, is and always will be with us."

Fr Adi Indra AP, St Brendan's Shepparton
(and ACYF Chaplain for Goulburn Valley Deanery)

 

"It was a brilliant experience for young people to be reassured that the Catholic Church in Australia is well and truly alive. It was a chance for everyone to deepen their faith while being surrounded by others on the same journey. The students had never experienced anything like this before, so it was a joy to accompany them on the journey.

I attended the first ACYF as a student in Year 11, so it was great to be back and lead a group of pilgrims. The variety of workshops was astounding. Some highlights for me were hearing AFL footballer, Matthew Kennedy, speak about the importance of making time for God in our lives, the praise and worship sessions and hearing Pope Leo address us all!! It was so inspiring."

Hannah Gundry, Marist College Bendigo