As we approach the end of the submission period for ideas and proposals to Bishops' Conference, we have a further 3 webinars to assist us as we think about how to best engage young people in the Synod journey.

​Wednesday May 5th @ 2-3pm
"Navigating the Dialogue Journey" with Paul Jarzembowski

Incorporating the experiences of the United States’ National Dialogue on Catholic Pastoral Ministry with Youth and Young Adults (2017-2021), this session will share some of the key lessons of engaging in synodal dialogue and the process of building towards unity across cultural, ecclesial, political, geographical, and generational boundaries in the Church. These insights are helpful for church leaders, especially in engaging with young people in the twenty-first century who naturally possess a global, intercultural, expansive, and keenly synodal understanding of our world and our faith communities.

Wednesday May 12th @ 10-11am
The Australian Experience with Malcom Hart, Australian Bishop's Conference

The Catholic Church in Australia is currently preparing for a Plenary Council (A Synod-like event, read more here) and have completed their "Listening and Dialogue" stage. Malcolm will offer an insight to the experience of the Australian Church in reaching young people during this process.

​Wednesday May 19th @ 2-3pm
Workshop Session on Synod Submissions to IEC

As the deadline (23rd May) for submissions to the Bishops' Conference on what methods/models to adopt in these coming two years of conversations approaches, we will come together to distill what we heard in our previous webinars on the experience of listening to the young church in similar situations across the world.
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Taking some time as a community of youth ministers to look at our situation using a 'wide angle lens', thinking about the vast array of settings that the Church encounters, accompanies and ministers to young people. Also, that consideration must be given to engaging young people who are not involved in, or see themselves as part of the Church, in this process.

This time of sharing and collaboration will allow our submissions to reflect the broad spectrum of youth ministry activities and engagement that we undertake in our parishes, dioceses and organisations. To realise that each of these areas of our ministry may need to employ distinctly different approaches and resources, to effectively listen to, and hear the voice of the young church, and those young people in our communities who currently do not engage with us as Church.

In coming together and collaborating, we hope that our submissions to Bishop's Conference will reflect the need for a broad set of resources specifically designed for young people taking into consideration where we encounter them and where they are on their journey of faith and relationship with Jesus.

*On some mobile devices the registration form may not appear, if that is the case click here.

As a follow up to our successful first webinar discussing the upcoming Synod, where Bishop Donal McKeown gave us an overview and initial information on the workings of the Synod, we continue our Synod themed webinar series with Sister Nathalie Becquart.

Sister Nathalie has a wealth of experience in Youth Ministry and was appointed by Pope Francis as one of two Under-Secretaries to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops - becoming the first woman to hold the role. She has spoken of her delight, saying it is a call to “serve the Universal Church”. She will speak to us on "The Spirituality of Synodality", aiming to better prepare us for the journey ahead as we seek to listen and hear the voice of young people during the synodal process.

When: Wednesday 28th April 2021, 2pm - 3pm
Where: At  your desk, in your car... wherever you can connect to Zoom!

Please register using the form below, information to join the Zoom meeting will be sent to you nearer the time.
*On some mobile devices the registration form may not appear, if that is the case click here.

At their Spring General Meeting the Irish Bishops’ Conference decided to embark on a synodal pathway for the Catholic Church in Ireland leading to the holding of a National Synodal Assembly within the next five years.

This synodal process will be one of listening, and journeying together aware of the challenges, hopes and opportunities that face the Catholic Church in Ireland.

One of the specific topics mentioned in the Bishops' announcement (read in full here) was:

Given this, it is 100% probable that members of CYMI will have "Synod" as an action point as part of their work over the coming years.

To start the ball rolling within the Catholic Youth Ministry community in Ireland, we will be hosting a webinar to give us a better understanding over the synodal process, where there will be opportunities for our involvement and the impact it will have on our work in the years ahead. Bishop Donal McKeown will be joining us to give us a better insight, not only has he been involved in the conversations that have led to this announcement, but he was also a 'Synod Father' at the most recent Synod of Bishops held at the Vatican in October 2018 on the topic of 'Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment', that resulted in Pope Francis' exhortation Christus Vivit!

Come and join Bishop Donal and Youth Ministers from around the country as we embark on this journey.

When: Thursday 25th March 2021, 12noon - 1pm
Where: At  your desk, in your car... wherever you can connect to Zoom!

Please register using the form below, information to join the Zoom meeting will be sent to you nearer the time.
*On some mobile devices the registration form may not appear, if that is the case click here.

As a followup from our Autumn webinars and recent discussions with members, the CYMI board has approached Alpha Ireland to see if they would run ALPHA online for members.

Many CYMI members were impressed with the ALPHA webinar and have heard of how powerful the experience of the course online can be for young people. Therefore to allow members and youth ministers to get a better understanding of how they could run the ALPHA Course online in their dioceses or organisations, we feel it would be useful to offer the course as an option.

Obviously, there are other benefits to having a CYMI member ALPHA Course... an opportunity to build community and friendship among members and also a chance for members for spiritual nourishment in these challenging times. As the saying goes: "what you don't have, you can't pass on". We all know that our ministry to young people is in our 'overflow', that we should be spiritually full to enable us to pour into our young people and young adults. 

To move forward, we need to gauge the interest that there is among members and to assess feasibility, the provisional plan is:

Wednesday mornings at 11:30 am beginning on February 24th  and running for approximately 10 weeks with a break during the Easter period.  Each session will last 1 hour initially but may extend to 1 hour and 15/20 mins should we need the extra time for discussion, etc. as the course develops.

Please register your interest and wish to participate via the online form below.
*Online form may not be visible on some mobile devices, if that is the case click here.

Many thanks & God bless,

The CYMI Team

 Join us for a virtual coffee break, Thursday 11th from 12-1pm - if that's your lunch time, feel free to bring that with you!

These are challenging times - in youth ministry, and in the wider context of our 'regular' lives: with family; maybe having to engage in homeschooling and e-learning; and not having our usual social contact with friends.

The ground keeps shifting, and the goalposts are constantly on the move... what was possible yesterday might not be possible tomorrow. Some of us are used to working in teams or community and now find ourselves sitting alone at a computer. Working with the young without presence or immediate feedback can be draining and so different from our usual.

As an attempt to combat some of this, and to build community and fellowship within CYMI, we're going to experiment with a Zoom 'coffee break' - Thursday 11th February @ 12noon - please come along for a chat, to share ideas, to let off steam, and to have some (virtual) human contact!

Following on from the level of engagement and feedback from our webinar series in May, and having asked members for ideas for content during our recent 'Energising Youth Ministers' webinar held on 8th October.
​We are happy to announce the following webinars during November and December.

For further information and registration click here.