The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) is hosted every two years in Indianapolis. This year, several Pleasant Valley students traveled to the event, representing St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
NCYC is a conference with the mission of growing the Catholic faith in the future generations of Catholic teenagers. This three-day conference was established in 1982 by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry with encouragement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This year’s conference carried the theme of “Fully Alive,” promoting living a fuller life with the help of Jesus Christ.
The conference had over 12,000 teenage attendees, requiring lots of space to run smoothly. The opening and ending sessions of each day were hosted in Lucas Oil Stadium. During the middle of the day, breakout sessions, vendors and games were hosted in the Indiana Convention Center.
The sessions at Lucas Oil Stadium were hosted by Sr. Josephine Garrett and Steve Angrisano. Some of the events included a concert by four-time Grammy winning duo For King and Country and magician Giancarlo Bernini. Prominent speakers included priest and astrophysicist Fr. John Kartje who addressed the intersection between religion and science.
In the conference center, there were breakout sessions all throughout the day covering topics ranging from social media mental health to keeping virtues in relationships. There were also other talks addressing friendships and the intersection of faith, sexuality and gender.
This year, senior Cameron Martinolich attended her second NCYC, and she still felt it played a pivotal role in her faith. “NCYC this year helped me again to build back my relationship with God and grow even closer with him. Both years I’ve gone, I’ve had an absolute blast and it’s something I won’t ever forget,” Martinolich said.
Freshman Charles Gannaway experienced his first NCYC and had high praise for the event. “The experience was one of a kind. Everyone who was there, old and young, were so engaged, happy, and full of joy. The different stories that people had were so incredible and inspiring that by the end everyone was happy and full of spirit,” Gannaway mentioned.
Chaperone Tim Foss stressed the importance of the trip for the next generation of Catholics. “I find it interesting that everyone goes in with different standings, some kids have no friends and others go in groups. But no matter what, by the end of the time there all of them are bonded together. It is remarkable how they grow into a family of faith and have created new friendships they didn’t see coming. NCYC truly just enables teenagers to understand the faith they’ve been raised in and open up to see the true potential of their beliefs,” Foss stated.
The next national NCYC is set to happen in 2024, and it is likely St. John Vianney will continue to host more groups for this event to come.
