Building well-rounded young leaders equipped with Gospel teaching, was at the forefront of the recent Young Justice Leaders Forum (YJLF), that gained participation from 140 Catholic secondary school students (14 schools) from Years’ 9 and 10 from across the Archdiocese of Perth.
Participants, referred to as delegates, spent day one of the forum at Iona Presentation College on Friday 30 July, where they learned, discerned, and dialogued about justice and peace education, and received formation for action and advocacy in their respective school contexts.
The Young Justice Leaders’ Forums have previously been conducted in the style of a ‘leadership camp’ with elements of a formation retreat lasting up to three days, however, in 2021 the program has been remodelled to encourage wider participation from secondary schools across the Archdiocese.
Day two of the forum will take place at Corpus Christi College on Tuesday 28 September where students will have the opportunity to share their learning about the implementation of a student-led Justice/advocacy project conducted between both days.
The forum presenters Aquinas College Director of Justice, Advocacy and Formation Richard Mavros, Iona Presentation College Dean of Mission and Catholic Identity Gemma Thomson, Corpus Christi College Deputy Principal Ministry Gemma Wooltorton, and Santa Maria College Dean of Students Rosa Speranza took the time to focus on topics including ‘Responding to Injustice,’ ‘Peace and Nonviolence – What did Jesus really say?,’ ‘Injustices in our world,’ and ‘How to plan a project or a campaign.’
In discussing the design format of the Young Justice Leaders Forum in 2021, Aquinas College Director of Justice, Advocacy and Formation Richard Mavros said a ‘Head, Heart and Hands’ model is sometimes applied to the deep connections between the Religious Education Curriculum (head), the Spirituality Retreat Program (heart) and our Christian Service-Learning Program (hands).
“When considering justice and advocacy, we strive to bring another two layers to this metaphor – feet and voice,” Mr Mavros said.
“We are called to stand with those enduring injustice, then to use our voice to advocate for a change towards a more just world.
“This is best done when we use our voice to amplify the voices of those that are not being heard loud enough within the unjust situation. It is the quest to form and train students to use their feet and voice wisely that drives the energy of the Young Justice Leaders Forum,” he added.
Iona Presentation College Dean of Mission and Catholic Identity Gemma Thomson said “it is imperative that we provide tangible and informed learning opportunities to our secondary students regarding justice, peace and advocacy.
“Often, students tend to adopt a charity approach to justice through activities such as bake sales and other fundraising initiatives in the school environment,” she explained.
“Formation programs like the Young Justice Leaders Forum encourage students to examine justice through a Catholic lens and evaluate how they can add the skills of ‘advocacy’ and ‘activism’ to their life toolkit when engaging with justice.
“In this way, our young people are able to adopt the call to be Christ-centred leaders and truly understand and fulfil their contemporary discipleship in our modern world,” Ms Thomson concluded.