By Steve Van Kooten
Several youth and adults from the local Catholic parish made the six-hour trek to Indianapolis for the National Catholic Youth Conference that took place from Thursday, Nov. 20, to Saturday, Nov. 22. Now, the participants are telling us all about it.
On Sunday, Jan. 18, Katey Simon, the youth minister director for the combined parishes in the Guttenberg area (St. Mary’s, St. Joseph’s and Immaculate Conception), led a public presentation in Brinkmann Hall after the church service.
Student presenters included Connor Errthum (a Western Dubuque student), Rashell Westhoff (a Clayton Ridge freshman) and Kiera Willet-Gau (Clayton Ridge). Comments were also sent in by adult chaperones.
“This year, I was the group leader and the adult in charge,” said Simon. “I was very grateful for the other adults that went: Amy Bly, Ken Davis and Robert Kies.”
“This is the most important investment we can make in our young church,” read comments given by Ken Davis, one of the trip’s chaperones.
“I was most excited about going because I wanted to make friends with more Catholic youth. The key to a strong relationship with Christ is a strong relationship with the church he has created,” said Errthum.
Westhoff said she had heard many people talk about their experiences going to the conference, and she found the trip to be worthwhile.
“Part of it was meeting new people — it was really fun,” she said.
Willet-Gau added that the time in Indianapolis allowed her to ruminate on her faith and connection to God.
“I really felt God on my heart. It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life,” she said.
A highlight of the event was a live video conference with Pope Leo XIV. In previous years, a recorded message from Pope Francis played at the conference.
“We had, for the first time ever, Pope Leo XIV join us digitally. We’ve never had a pope join us live before. This was an hour dialogue with the pope,” said Simon. “It was amazing to see the love he had for youth there.”
Five young people were picked to ask the Pope questions during the video conference, and one of those chosen was a girl from the Waterloo, Iowa, area.
“It was cool to see someone from our archdiocese get to be part of that experience,” said Simon.
One of the prevailing messages she took away from the trip was the focus on the “young church,” and that young parishioners are called upon to participate in the church, just like their elders.
“I just found that to be so powerful because a lot of people say they’re the church of the future, but they’re the church now,” she said.
She said everyone had the chance to see the scope and diversity of the Catholic Church by meeting members of their faith from across the country. Reports say more than 16,000 people filled the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium over the three days.
“When we think of church, we often think of the place we go on Sundays,” said Errthum. “We don’t think of the place internationally that’s been around for two thousand years. It really opened my eyes to see the sheer scale of the Catholic youth.”
“Another thing was seeing how other people worship God. There are many ways than what I see at our church,” added Willet-Gau.
During the conference, there were also trainings, breakout sessions and seminars on a variety of topics that address the church and its place in the world today.
Getting there
Preparation for the trip began “a long time ago,” and the cost for each person to go was approximately $800. Everyone who went paid $200, with the rest of the cost covered by the parish and community contributions, according to Simon.
I didn’t want there to be a financial barrier that kept anyone from attending,” said Simon.
“We had a lot support from the parish and from others,” she said.
The Knights of Columbus helped contribute as well, with the students and other parish members helping at one of the KC’s breakfasts this past April. Everyone who went on the trip helped out at the breakfast, according to Simon.
The Knights of Columbus donated approximately $1,500 toward the trip.
Contributions also came from private donations and from the Parish Life Committee.
Simon attended meetings to learn how to prepare the chaperones, how to deal with logistic issues and preparing the youth for the trip. She then held three monthly meetings in the months leading up to their departure.
“The idea and purpose behind that was to build community. Most of the kids knew each other from school; the majority were from Clayton Ridge... It was good for them to have that time,” she said.
She also credited the help from the archdiocese, which put together much of the behind-the-scenes logistics for the trip and helped with coordinating participants.
