Tassie pilgrims report: Holy Spirit ‘alive and well’ at ACYF 2025!
By Catherine Sheehan
A group of 93 Tasmanians joined thousands of young Catholics from around the country at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) in Melbourne from 30 November to 2 December. A grand total of 6,000 pilgrims attended the festival which was a national celebration of the Catholic faith.
Archbishop Tony Ireland led the group from Tasmania which consisted of 38 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Hobart and 55 from Catholic Education Tasmania (CET). The CET pilgrims included 36 school students and 18 cadets from the St Thomas Aquinas Teaching Schools Institute.
CET’s Director of Catholic Identity and Evangelisation, Martin Tobin, was one of the main leaders with the Tasmanian group and said the festival had “left a lasting impression” on him.
“It was remarkable to experience some many young people coming together and experiencing days of learning, fellowship, worship and fun,” Martin said.
“All of this occurred within a spirit of joy, cooperation and respect for each other. This in itself is a testimony to the spirit of the event, and the great sense of fraternity amongst all pilgrims, and the hospitality of the people of Melbourne. And this spirit was alive and well within the AoH group!”
The three-day festival began with a 5km pilgrimage walk from St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne to the Festival venue, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre at South Wharf. The World Youth Day Cross and Icon were carried in procession.
Over the three days there were plenary sessions on the main stage with talks from key presenters, workshops which included interactive activities aimed at deepening the faith of pilgrims, and times of prayer, adoration, praise and worship, celebration of Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation. Many bishops and priests from around the country also attended the festival, including Cardinal Mykola Bychok.
Archbishop Tony celebrated Mass for the pilgrims during the festival and during his homily encouraged the young people to open their hearts to God.
“Let this festival be a time when: You open your heart wider to God,” Archbishop Tony said. “You allow Christ to speak to you in Scripture. You let the Holy Spirit stir something bold within you. You deepen your desire for holiness. You discover a Church that is alive, joyful, missionary, and yours.”
“And above all, let this be the festival where you say: ‘Jesus, I trust in your word. Make my faith big – bigger than my doubts, bigger than my fears, bigger than the world’s noise’.”
One of the young Tassie pilgrims, Melodee-Ruth Estcourt, described ACYF as “deeply spiritually uplifting”.
“Through Mass, workshops, plenaries, music, and moments of prayer, I felt completely safe, embraced, and encouraged to grow,” she said.
“Each day lifted my spirit in a different way, and being surrounded by thousands of young people celebrating their faith filled me with hope. It felt like experiencing the living Church in its fullness.”
Another pilgrim Vu Nguyen said the highlight of the event was witnessing 6,000 young people attending Mass together.
“It reminded me of when I was younger back in my home country, I remember going to Mass where there was at least a thousand people in church attending Mass and so seeing six thousand people, and people of my age was phenomenal to see,” Vu said.
“I found ACYF spiritually demanding, it felt as though I had to prove to myself that I do believe in my own faith and Jesus, and going to ACYF helped me go through the process a lot better,” he added.
Chili Vidler said ACYF had demonstrated how alive the Catholic faith was amongst young people.
“ACYF opened a window into the beauty, scale, and vibrancy of the Catholic Church in a way I had never experienced before,” she said.
“To stand in a stadium with more than 6,000 young Catholics, celebrating Mass together with archbishops, priests, and an incredible choir and orchestra, was nothing short of breathtaking.
“There was a tangible sense of unity, of being part of something far bigger than ourselves. The music, the prayer, and the atmosphere created a profound feeling of closeness with God that is difficult to put into words.”
Leanne Prichard, CET Officer for Catholic Identity and Evangelisation, helped coordinate the CET student and staff group attending ACYF and said the atmosphere at the festival was “alive with the Spirit”.
“During the praise and worship songs, I could see the students were fully engaged and sharing their faith through the words of these songs,” she said.
“Many students commented on how they didn’t realise the breadth, diversity and inclusivity of the Catholic Church in Australia.”
ACYF 2025 officially closed with the Commissioning Mass celebrated by Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli.
“Jesus was rejoicing over people like you,” Archbishop Comensoli told the young people. “Not because you have everything sorted out, but because you have set out on the journey with Him—open-hearted, on the way, willing to be saints among the saints of God’s pilgrim people.”
ACYF is a three-day national Catholic festival for young people from Year 9 up to 25 years of age. It was established by the Australian bishops more than ten years ago.