Migrant Youth Festival to share and celebrate the diverse gifts of our migrant communities

On Sunday 29 September, Melbourne’s Migrant Catholic Chaplaincies will host the first Migrant Youth Festival, a youth-led event designed to share and celebrate the gifts of young people from the diverse migrant communities of the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

Organised to mark the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the festival aims to bring together young people from across the Archdiocese for a day filled with music, culture, prayer and friendship.

The inspiration for the event came from Archbishop Peter A Comensoli’s 2023 Patrick Oration, in which he focussed on ‘rediscovering the young Church’. Drawing particular attention to the active participation of young people in migrant communities, he expressed a desire to see this vibrancy reflected across the Archdiocese.

We want everyone to connect, to see that we are united in faith. There is a purpose in what we are all doing separately, and it’s greater when we come together.

‘Every year, we celebrate Migrant and Refugee Sunday with a Mass at the Cathedral, explains Mgr Joselito Asis, Episcopal Vicar for Migrants and Refugees. ‘But this year, we thought about organising the young people from the migrant communities. It all began as an initiative of the migrant chaplaincy in response to the Archbishop.’

One of the aims of the festival is to help young Catholics in Melbourne recognise and appreciate the breadth of the community to which they belong. ‘We want everyone to connect, to see that we are united in faith. There is a purpose in what we are all doing separately, and it’s greater when we come together,’ says Vu Nguyen, one of the event’s organisers.

Kemp Vinson, another organiser, echoes this sentiment, noting, ‘It’s really a chance for young Catholics to gather, enjoy and celebrate their uniqueness. The festival isn’t purely religious. We start with party music and transition into a more prayerful atmosphere.’

The vibrant music and welcoming ambience are designed to ease the participants into a day that will incorporate plenty of opportunities for fun with prayerful reflection on the broader theme of Migrant and Refugee Sunday, ‘God walks with His people’.

After the official welcome at ACU’s Cathedral Hall, the day will start with a keynote address by Fr Nicholas Pearce, Senior Chaplain for Youth, Young Adults and Campus Ministry, followed by a panel conversation with the Archbishop that promises to be a highlight for many attendees. Vu describes it as ‘a great opportunity’ for young people to interact more closely with the Archbishop than they might usually be able to.

It’s a beautiful way of showing the diversity within the Church and to appreciate each other’s cultural heritage.

The festival has been designed to ensure a mix of learning, interaction and cultural appreciation. As well as the keynote address and panel discussion, Kemp explains that ‘there will be small-group activities to help the participants bond beyond their community and start friendships that transcend this event.’ Participants will also enjoy lunch together, and be treated to a mini cultural concert, before embarking on a pilgrim walk to St Patrick’s Cathedral, where they will join in a Rosary Procession around the Cathedral before gathering with the broader Catholic community at the annual Migrant and Refugee Mass.

A popular annual event for all the Catholic faithful, young and old, the Mass this year is being promoted as a ‘Mass for All Nations’, a name Mgr Asis has championed to reflect the inclusivity of the event and ‘to signify that the concerns of migrants and refugees are for the entire Church’.

In addition to the educational and spiritual elements of the day, the festival will showcase the rich cultural heritage of a broad range of migrant communities. From Vietnamese and Filipino to Spanish-speaking, Indonesian, Syriac and South Sudanese—to name just some of the communities to be represented—young people will have an opportunity to share some of the gifts that are unique to their cultures, fostering a sense of pride and unity within the broader community of young people in the Archdiocese. ‘It’s a beautiful way of showing the diversity within the Church and to appreciate each other’s cultural heritage,’ Kemp says.

We hope they leave wanting to do more, collaborate more, and share their faith beyond their cultural backgrounds.

Vu acknowledges that many of the young people who come to the festival won’t necessarily identify strongly with the word ‘migrant’.

‘I’m not a migrant,’ he explains. ‘I’m born and bred in Melbourne, but obviously I came from a family of migrants, and I think that’s where it comes down to our faith upbringing, and that’s where the migrant and the refugee aspect comes in.

‘While I was born here, I’ve actually spent pretty much my whole life in a Vietnamese church,’ he says. ‘So my faith background, my faith understanding comes from a Vietnamese lens … Whether we’re born in Melbourne or in Australia or overseas, we participate in a faith community that’s not typical here.’

Monsignor Asis reiterates the significance of the festival for the entire Church. ‘Even though some young people might not see themselves as migrants, this day is for the whole Church to be conscious of the migrant issue. Pope Francis always emphasises this, and we want our young people to be part of it.’

Vu adds that he hopes participants will experience a sense of fraternity beyond their migrant communities and come to better appreciate the diversity of the broader Church. ‘We hope they leave wanting to do more, collaborate more, and share their faith beyond their cultural backgrounds.’

It’s just beautiful to see the different migrant groups raising their hands together in worship

Reiterating that young people from any background are welcome to join in the festival, the organisers are keen to extend the invitation to all parishes so that everyone can experience the vibrant diversity of Melbourne’s Catholic community.

There is a buzz of anticipation as the festival date approaches. Kemp is particularly looking forward to seeing ‘the different migrant youth praying and worshipping together’. For him, it’s about going beyond individual groups and feeling part of something bigger. ‘It’s just beautiful to see the different migrant groups raising their hands together in worship’ he says.

Vu agrees. ‘It’s going to be a fabulous event. God willing, it will grow and inspire us to do more as the migrant youth in the Archdiocese.’