The Philippines’ bishops’ conference has announced it will dedicate 2019 as the ‘Year of the Youth’.
The year-long celebration which will start on the first Sunday of Advent on December 2, will carry the theme ‘Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered’.
Its observance, which the bishops described as part of the “nine-year journey for New Evangelisation”, will end on November 24, 2019, the Feast of Christ the King.
In 2013, the bishops’ conference launched a “nine-year journey” to 2021, the fifth centenary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines, with a different theme each year.
Formation
Activities next year are aimed at “youth in formation, youth in communities, Church and society, youth in mission, and youth ministry and youth ministers”.
“The Year of the Youth is a journey of encounter with Jesus, accompanied by Mary,” read a statement from the bishops’ Commission on Youth.
“In this journey, we tell the story of the Filipino youth with our Risen Lord… as we are blessed and gifted during this journey, we are empowered to witness to and share our Faith,” it added.