April 2025

Easter – YCW Centenary – Lay people a leaven – Wage rise justified – Vietnam 50 years later – Laudato Si’

Jul 15, 2025

Easter

Dear Friends,

Lent is nearly over and the joy of Easter will soon be here.

More joy follows with the YCW centenary, which is now in full swing internationally (see poster above) and also in Australia, where the number of commemorative events is also multiplying, as we highlight below.

For the occasion, we've managed to resurrect several historical items, including audio of Cardijn and a video of the IYCW World Council in Adelaide in 1991 by digitising and posting it on YouTube.

In this month's newsletter we also share a talk by Bishop Long from Parramatta, who echoes Cardijn and Vatican II with his reminder that lay people are called to be a leaven in the world.

We note the call of the Australian bishops for a 4.5% wage increase recognising the challenges of daily living that people are facing.

We also have an article highlighting the IYCW's 1965 proposal for a "lay senate" in Rome, a proposal that seems to foreshadow the kind of synodal church Pope Francis is promoting.

More somberly, this month also marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, which will be the topic for this month's ACI webinar.

On the other hand, our May webinar will focus on the challenges the world faces in light of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical, Laudato Si'.

Pat Branson and Richard Pütz have their usual thought-provoking reflections.

And finally an extract from Cardijn's talk in Ballarat in 1966 explaining how he first began to build the YCW in his original parish of Notre Dame at Laeken in 1912.

Stefan Gigacz

ACI Secretary

We are called to be a leaven: Bishop Long

“In a secular age, those who live and work ‘in the world’ are called to be leaven, transforming the culture from within, invisibly yet powerfully,” writes Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen.

“One of the most hopeful signs in the Church today,” Bishop Long argues, “is the growing recognition of the laity’s co-responsibility in building the Kingdom.

We are called to be a leaven: Bishop Long

Analysis: Bishops back 4.5% wage increase

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has argued for a 4.5 per cent rise in the national minimum wage.

The Conference has lodged a submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review through the Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations.

Such a move would provide for an increase in the national minimum wage of $41.20 a week, taking it from $915.90 to $957.10 a week.

Bishops back 4.5% wage increase

YCW Centenary events

In addition to the YCW Centenary Mass and Reunion in Melbourne on Saturday 24 May, Perth is now planning its own celebration on Pentecost Sunday 8 June.

Sandhurst Bishop Shane Mackinlay will also preside at a commemorative mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral Bendigo on Sunday 13 July while other events are in the planning stages in Adelaide.

CLICK BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE

Melbourne YCW Centenary Mass and Reunion, Sat 24 May 2025

Perth YCW Centenary Mass and Reunion, Pentecost Sunday 8 June 2025

Sandhurst YCW Centenary Mass and Reunion, Sunday 13 July 2025

Webinar: YCW, YCS and the Vietnam War: Looking back after 50 years

This month’s ACI webinar on Monday 28 April 2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of the end of what Australians knew as the “Vietnam War” but which in Vietnam is known as the “American War.”

French-Vietnamese historian, Dr Claire Tran Thi Lien, will join Australian historian, Dr Val Noone, and former Australian YCW national secretary, Garry McDonald, to recall and reflect on the war’s impact on the YCW and YCS movements and their members in Vietnam, Australia and internationally.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vKA5FfqlSSOlChjUumvIEw

Webinar: Laudato Si’ at 10 – Hope or Despair?

24 May 2025 will mark the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ – On Care for Our Common Home.

ACI and the Diocese of Parramatta’s Mission Enhancement Team (MET) invite you to a webinar with Sebastian Salaske-Lentern and Sue Martin, who will reflect on the ecological journey that Francis has taken us on in the past ten years.

MORE DETAILS

Laudato Si’ at 10 – Hope or Despair?

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/LzgqNEs3Q7ag0N88embIDQ

Video: International YCW World Council, Adelaide, 1991

In November-December 1991, the Australian YCW hosted young worker leaders from 40 countries for the 6th World Council of the International YCW.

So, thanks to Fr John Jegorow from Mary Mackillop Catholic Community, Ballajura, and Ben from Custom Video and DVD Solutions in Perth, we have had it digitised.

You can watch it now in full on YouTube along with several clips from IYCW founding secretary, Marguerite Fiévez, and late Australian YCW chaplain, Fr Hugh O'Sullivan.

WATCH THE VIDEO AND CLIPS

IYCW World Council, Adelaide 1991

Gospel: What is the place of the Gospel in the YCS?

I have had a long association with the Young Christian Students Movement (YCS) in Australia, but I am still unsure of the place of the Gospel in the life of the YCS, writes Pat Branson.

I think there are two reasons for my uncertainty: first, the students who taught me to Review, used the questions “What does your faith say? What would Jesus do in this situation?”

In the Judge section of the Review of Life, however, they did not show much knowledge of the Gospels, or of Church teaching beyond what little they picked up, probably from going to Mass, from sitting in RE classes at school, from their families, and from being in a Review group.

Your father Abraham saw my day and was glad (Gospel Enquiries)

Reflection: What world are we leaving our children?

Joseph Cardijn exemplified patterns evident in the elements of the Rule of St Benedict through his commitment to community, discernment, and action - principles that resonate deeply with Benedictine spirituality, writes Richard Pütz.

Although the Rule did not directly influence Cardijn, his work and methodology align with its values in several ways.

How did Joseph Cardijn exemplify the Rule of St. Benedict? (Cardijn Reflections)

History: The fight for a lay senate… in Rome

In this article, Stefan Gigacz presents a video is extracted from a recording of a report by Australian delegates from the International YCW World Council in Bangkok, Thailand, in December 1965.

It illustrates that lay leaders were already battling to build a church based on fraternal not paternal dialogue between clergy and laity, or, as Pope has characterised it, a synodal church.

The fight for a lay senate… in Rome (Synodal Reflections)

Video: How I started the YCW: Joseph Cardijn

In this video extract from a talk in Ballarat in 1966, Cardijn recalls how he first began to contact young workers in his home parish of Notre Dame at Laeken, Belgium, in 1912.

WATCH HERE

News briefs and social media

Catholic Youth Leadership Academy

Find out more about this groundbreaking program here:

https://cardijncommunityaustralia.org/%f0%9f%8c%8d-join-the-2nd-catholic-youth-leadership-academy-cayla-in-chiang-mai-%f0%9f%8c%bf/

Daniel Esquivel Memorial Ceremony, Paraguay

RIP Singapore YCW and IYCW and human rights worker, Samydorai

We send our condolences to the family of Sinapan Samydorai, a Singapore YCW and IYCW Asia-Pacific leader, who passed away on 27 March 2025 after a long illness.

Samy made many sacrifices for the movement, including his health. Rest in peace, Sam.

Advocating for workers: Sinapan Samydorai (Cardijn.info)

Editorial Note: The purpose of the ACI Newsletter is to share information and promote discussion. Citing or linking to articles does not imply any endorsement by ACI of the authors' views.

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