Oblate News

Youth of Colwyn Bay Attend Flame Congress in Wembley Stadium

Mazenod Youth Group

Flame Congress 2023

The youth of St Joseph’s OMI RCC in Colwyn Bay were incredibly happy to attend this year’s Flame Congress and youth co-ordinator and volunteer Julie Butcher was honoured to attend with them. Our Youth travelled with Richard Gwyn School in Flint to Wembley, on a coach together. For some of our youth at St Joseph, this was their first time to such an event and to London. This event also marks 150 days before the World Youth Day in Lisbon, that some of our youth are looking forward to attending. If this one-day event at Flame was anything to go by, the World Youth Day in Lisbon for a whole week will truly be unbelievably breath taking, inspirational and a one in a lifetime experience for them all.

The Flame journey started back in 2012 but due to the covid situation has not taken place since 2020. The event kicked off with an introduction from the stars ‘Ant and Dec’ as it was Dec’s brother Father Dermott Donnelly who was one of the first founding members of this event and unfortunately died in the summer of 2022. In remembrance of Father Dermott Donnelly, we started with prayers of thanks and reflection of his dedication, in his constant encouragement to young people being; ‘Live a life of significance.’ With this in mind and spirit the young were encouraged to ‘Rise -up’ and immerse themselves into the theme about our beloved Mother Mary and her journey. To stand up for what they believe in and fight against injustice regardless of how difficult it can be sometimes. To ‘Rise-up’ as a young person ready to share the hope, joy, generosity, and love of Jesus Christ. 11,000 young people and volunteers from around the UK attended this event and was a sight to be seen and heard.

The whole Flame team involved with all the planning towards this event used Pope Francis words,

‘In this beautiful season of your lives, press ahead and do not postpone all the good that the Holy Spirit can accomplish in you! With affection, I bless your dreams and every step of your journey’

Flame 2023 was sponsored by extraordinary generosity, time, and energy by some very dedicated people; financial support from wonderful sponsors; and the encouragement of the whole network that is the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation of England and Wales, supported by our Bishops and Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

The young people who attended were there because of the amazing and tireless effort and kindness of teachers, volunteers, catechists, youth leaders, priests and chaplains from schools, parishes, national organisations, and Diocesan groups. If it were not for the help of all those involved with the event and volunteers, this event could not happen.

Some of the speakers had travelled halfway around the world to be there and everyone on the stage had put great care and prayer into their music, words, and messages on the day.

After a brief introduction and welcome from Ant and Dec, we were invited to enjoy music from the ‘One Hope Project’ in the opening Mass and prayers with a procession of our beloved Mother Mary and baby Jesus, with some actors on the stage depicting, the first words heard by Mary from the Angels announcing the birth of Christ to come and her cousin Elizabeth, conception. To Rise-up and go with haste! Just as Mary did! Very immersive and engaging! Archbishop Tim Costelloe SDB led the Mass.

We then heard some great music from Adenike and Guvna B that got everyone up and, on their feet, dancing, waving their arms around and lots of beautiful, upbeat singing from all 11,000 young people in the arena. This was followed by an interview type discussion between David Wells and Robert Billot which resonated to our youth. Robert Billot is an attorney or lawyer as we understand it in the UK and he was basically trying to say to the youth to always stand up for what you genuinely believe in and the truth, regardless of how small it is, as this can always grow bigger when you do not expect it. That God always has a plan for all of us and that we should always use the skills and gifts, we are given towards the common good and purpose they are given for. Robert told his story of working on a case for a local farmer and his cattle that were falling ill and dying from the water they were drinking off the land. Which then turned into a huge case involving a multi-national company that had been disposing illegal chemicals into the drinking waters of the area which included the chemical Teflon. Thus, poisoning thousands of people for several years, the environment and ended up with a film being produced about the whole situation and Robert, in 2019 called, “Dark Waters,” starring Mark Ruffalo as Rob. So, his message was, that it does not matter how small you feel you are in the greater scheme of things, just be yourself and use the skills God gave you, it all contributes, and you never know where it will take you.

After a short break in the afternoon where we could explore some of the other contributors to the event including those from the SVP, Cafod, Youth 2000, Columban Missionaries, HCTP, Catenian Association, Salesians, Assumption Sisters, Faith In Action and many more… we were overcome with yet more fantastic music and a bit of R&B from Faith Child, Adenike and One Hope Project. As a point of interest some of our youth who attended this event, have previously completed some of the various levels found within the ‘Faith In Action’ program and were immensely proud of themselves at this achievement. It is worth consideration to restart this program again within our parish at St Joseph’s OMI RCC.

Another guest speaker was Jenny Garzon Saavedra, from Colombia, who spoke to us in her native language and wore a traditional dress depicting all the beautiful animals of her country, in the amazon. Jenny works with CAFOD’s church partner FUNVIPAS (Pastoral Action Team of the Diocese of San Vicente del Caguán) and is also a youth worker. We heard from Jenny about how the amazon had been affected over the years from deforestation and conflict. Jenny spoke about how the animals and plants had been displaced by the destruction of the natural green forest and how this affects us all. Jenny was inspirational in her efforts to help educate others in her local community and uses her skills in creative ways, through art and her other creative skills, to get the important message across to other young children about their local environment. Jenny explained how we can all help contribute and reverse the damage already done to the amazon and our own environments.

This was followed by a talk with Cardinal Tagle, who again made an impression on our youth at St Joseph’s with his informative but realistic talk about life, and he asked us to be mindful of the role that Joseph had to play in his own way with Mary and the struggles he may have experienced, due to this unexpected change to his life. He went on further to talk about the impact of faith, hope, and charity and how Angel’s can work even today for the greater good in our everyday life, even when you are not expecting it. Cardinal Tagle participated in the conclave of March 2013, which elected Pope Francis and on 8 December 2019, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. We were then invited to enjoy further beautiful music and voices by Brenden and Georgia from Catholic Voices before Cardinal Vincent Nichols led us into Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. All 11,000 youth and volunteers enjoyed complete silent prayer and thoughtfulness in the presence of Jesus Christ, for ten whole minutes. A sight to truly behold! And our youth from St Joseph’s were most definitely overcome with joy and the sense of belonging between everyone at the event. The faithfulness, the joyful, immersive music and the speakers were truly an inspiration to all.

This celebration is not one to be missed by our youth of the future and we hope that every year this event takes place that it will again make an impression upon everyone who attends. Thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors that have helped make this event happen because without their dedication it would not, and it is definitely a highlight during the year. It is not one to be missed and should be in every parish calendar for our youth to attend. After seeing first-hand how our youth enjoyed this event and the profound impact this can have, and the sense of belonging they can gain from such experiences, it is worth considering how our youth could benefit from further opportunities. To meet up and share similar experiences together both locally and regionally, either quarterly or monthly, with other joined up thinking practices within the Diocese, Catholic Schools, Youth Groups, or local Parishes.

If you would like any further information about this event, please follow the link to their website being: FLAME – CYMFed or contact Father Vimal at St Joseph’s OMI RCC at: St Joseph’s OMI Roman Catholic Church – Colwyn Bay, North Wales (stjosephsrcc.org.uk) or Julie Butcher St Joseph’s Youth Co-ordinator: brightlights@stjosephsrcc.org.uk who has presented this report about the event and our youth’s experience attending Flame Congress 2023.