All systems go as festival venue announced

The venue for the Australian Catholic Youth Festival has been locked in, with the Melbourne Archdiocese securing the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre for the 30 November to 2 December event. The announcement is an important step in the ongoing preparations for the festival, with groups from across Victoria and Australia able to seek accommodation with the venue location in mind.

Melbourne Archbishop Peter A Comensoli welcomed the news. 'The Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre is one of the largest of its kind in Australia, attracting millions of visitors each year. It holds a variety of spaces that we look forward to utilising during the festival as we welcome thousands of pilgrims to Melbourne this November.' The Melbourne Archdiocese looks forward to welcoming thousands of pilgrims from 14 to 25 years of age, together with their accompanying leaders, teachers and clergy.

To read the full article, visit the CathNews website.
Image source: ACYF

Pope Francis' prayer intention for March

Pope Francis' prayer intention for March is 'For families in crisis':

Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences.

The Pope Video is available on The Pope Video website and the prepared prayer intentions for all of 2025 are available on the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.

Image source: Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network

Pope's message for Lent

In a message signed before he was hospitalised, Pope Francis has urged Christians to examine their consciences this Lent by comparing their daily lives to the hardships faced by migrants. Reflecting on the theme 'Let us journey together in hope', the Pope said that Lent was a time to confront both personal and collective struggles with faith and compassion. 'A first call to conversion thus comes from the realisation that all of us are pilgrims in this life', the Pope wrote.

'Am I really on a journey, or am I standing still, not moving, either immobilised by fear and hopelessness or reluctant to move out of my comfort zone?' Pope Francis also emphasised the importance of journeying together, saying Christians are called to walk 'side by side, without shoving or stepping on others, without envy or hypocrisy, without letting anyone be left behind or excluded'. The Pope called on Christians to journey together in hope toward Easter, living out the central message of the Jubilee Year: 'Hope does not disappoint'.

To read the full article, visit the CathNews website.