Your Church, Your Thoughts – Celebrating youth

Mary Anne Collins from Cork, one of the youngest delegates at the National Pre-Synodal Assembly said the entire event was very upbeat. Young people, she said, are “really looking for authenticity and sincerity. When they do find the truth, they’re really willing to embrace it and that that has been my experience: that young people aren’t the ones shouting for change as such – although that would probably be what people expect.

“But in my experience, young people actually, when they study Church teaching, really want to embrace it and they can see the beauty in it,” she said.

Helena O’Shea – another young delegate – said that despite the challenge of attracting more younger people, she hoped that older parishioners would be inspired by the young people who are involved.

“It’s important for us that people know that there are young Catholics in Ireland and that there is a much larger group than I think anyone probably realises and that they are really deeply convicted of the Faith and they have a love for Jesus and the Church and the future of the Church,” she said.