Ruth Jackson: Tell us a bit about CYMFed…
Father Dominic: We began in 2009 because of a change of context in how the Church looked at things nationally. There had been central Catholic youth services, running from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales but we were looking at something more grassroots so CYMfed has one person from every diocese - the lead decision-maker in relation to youth ministry - and an ever growing number of movements, organisations and religious orders that work with young people. There are now around 50 members and we aim to advocate for youth ministry, both within the Church and more widely, to collaborate on things that make sense to do across different dioceses and organisations and to share good practice. It has enabled us to do some things we couldn’t have done just as individual dioceses or movements.
RJ: What was the vision behind the first Flame congress?
Fr D: When Pope Benedict visited the UK in 2010 we had approximately 8,000 young people there. That was the first time in England and Wales that we’d really ever tried to bring large numbers of young people together and once we’d seen the energy, dynamism and joy of that encounter, the next natural spur for us was the Olympics in 2012. That’s why the first congress was in 2012 and why it’s called Flame, linking into the Olympic idea but also from St Paul’s letter to Timothy, where he encourages Timothy as a young adult, someone to whom the baton of leadership within the church is being passed: “Fan your gifts into a flame.” That’s been the tag line for us for each of the congresses.
Bringing together young people in such numbers gives them a different vision of Church. For many young people, they might be one of relatively few in their parish community at Mass on a Sunday but when they sit in the arena and look around and see they’re one of thousands, it cannot help but change their perspective on their faith and community.
In 2012 we saw the energy and joy within the arena, but we also saw the fruit afterwards. We were contacted by school chaplains and priests who said that being able to take their little group of young people from rural Cornwall, North Wales or Newcastle absolutely invigorated what they were doing back in the parish or school as well as individual moments where young people were touched by the particular input on the stage.
RJ: What’s happening at Flame 2017?
Fr D: The theme is 10,000 reasons and the arena seats about 10,000 people so one of the things that we really hope to share with the young people is that they are each uniquely precious in God’s eyes, and together as 10,000 they have this extraordinary ability to be agents for change within the world and within their own context.
We’ll hear from two young people who have recently returned from visiting refugee camps in Lebanon. Sarah Teather, former Liberal Democrat MP and director of the Jesuit Refugee Service UK, will be talking about her experience working with refugees in this country. We’ve got Fr Augusto Zampini speaking, a priest from Argentina who has worked in the slums of Buenos Aires and is now theological advisor for the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD). He works very closely with Pope Francis so will be able to give our young people a first-hand insight into Pope Francis’ understanding of Church. Another speaker is Cardinal Bo, Archbishop of Yangon (Myanma), so one of the things we’ll be saying is that if we were in Burma we wouldn’t be able to do an event like Flame because there would be severe restrictions on freedom of worship for Christians so again, giving them a different insight and perspective. We’ve got drama presentations, music with Matt Redman, and our speakers will be offering interactive actions and ideas throughout the day.
Young people have an extraordinary ability to be agents for change
Mike Pilavachi will be speaking and our own Cardinal Vincent Nicholls will be leading a time of prayerful adoration at the end of the day. Those ten or so minutes in silence with so many thousands of other young people, all focused on the presence of Christ there in the arena through the blessed sacraments provides an extraordinary moment of peace, faith and depth that couldn’t be achieved at parish or diocese level but in such a large event has a particular power.
Although Flame 2017 is being organised by CYMfed it is absolutely open to everybody of all faiths and none.
RJ: Matt Redman’s welcome message encourages young people to share their stories. How can youth workers inspire this?
Fr D: It’s about giving young people a safe space so that they know what they say is going to be taken seriously, it’s going to be listened to in a way that’s cared for, that’s compassionate and that’s joyful where appropriate and that’s journeyed with where that’s necessary. Going to a youth event and hearing other people share elements of their own story might be an inspiration so youth workers can say: “You’ve heard his or her testimony. What would you want to say? What would your passion be? What’s the thing that you would want to share?”
RJ: If you could give one piece of advice to a young person what would it be?
Fr D: I would use the words of St Francis de Sales who said: “Be who you are, be it well, and all for the glory of God.” For me the key is that a young person is able to live their faith authentically, that it deepens who they are, that it speaks to who they are and from who they are, so they’re not changing their persona but they’re living truly as the person that God created them to be. I think our duty as youth ministers and as anyone working alongside young people is to give them that space to blossom and shine into evermore deeply becoming the person who God is calling them to be.
To book Flame 2017 tickets visit cymfed.org.uk/flame2017
