By Tristan Kolay
On Monday the 19th of January the 2025 cohort of 8 Knights Catholic Leadership Academy [KCLA] graduates celebrated the achievements of the past year at their Graduation Mass and ceremony. The Student Leaders shared the evening with their families and friends and gave testimonies of their journey in the programme beginning with a solemn Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth.
Celebrated by Fr Stephen Gorddard, a lecturer and Mass Celebrant of KCLA in over the last 10 years, the Mass was accompanied by beautiful music and faith-filled participation by all in attendance. In his homily, Fr Stephen reflected on the Gospel message, ‘new wines, fresh skins!’ [Mk 1:22], encouraging the graduates to be the fresh wine of Christ to others in their witness of faith in the world, and to use the deeper connections with their faith that they have found throughout the year to share an openness with others and, as leaders, to draw them into a deeper relationship with God through their example.
After the Mass, Student Leaders and their guests socialised over light refreshments in the Cathedral Parish Centre, followed by individual testimonies from each of the Student Leaders about their experience and growth throughout their course. Each had the opportunity to share their experiences throughout the past twelve months with KCLA, demonstrating the expansion in their lives of faith, the ability to connect deeply with those around them, their gratitude for the support and guidance of their mentors, and what it meant to them to be able to have an environment where they could nurture and strengthen their faith and show up as leaders in the community of Perth. As remarked by those in attendance, the confidence of the graduates has grown exponentially throughout the year, and though there were a few softly spoken individuals in the cohort, each of the graduates held the attention of the room as they gave witness to what KCLA had given them in terms of spiritual and personal growth.
KCLA was first started by the Cathedral Branch of the Knights of the Southern Cross WA [KSC WA] in 2016 to help sustain and grow Youth Ministry in WA through strengthening the leadership skills and faith of Youth Leaders in WA. Now entering its tenth year, KCLA has supported over 90 students to be able to influence youth ministry more effectively in their Parish communities and movements and to themselves be an example to those who come after them in the Catholic faith. Underpinning the success of KCLA since inception has been the learning framework facilitated through Acts 2 College of Mission and Evangelisation as well as lecturers including Br Knight James Chua, Paul Kelly and Mario Borg of 24/7 Youth Ministry. Equally as important have been the guidance of the mentors like longstanding mentor volunteer Viviana D’Angelo who were assigned to each Student Leader and guided by Jane Borg (Acts2CoME).
KCLA’s curriculum has included Spiritual Formation, Faith Formation, Moral Formation, Purpose and Goal Setting for Youth Groups, Engagement and Events Coordination concluding with a Student Leader run event as a practical test of skills learnt and strengthened.
The volunteer mentors who were selected based on their prior youth leadership experience were paired with Student Leaders based on their leadership goals and wherever permissible, compatible career interests. The mentors provided guidance and support to help achieve their goals as part of their KCLA journey. As a result, the Graduation Night was also testament to the deep friendships that have developed not only between the graduating cohort, but also between the graduates, their mentors, and the graduates’ families.
KSC WA State Executive Officer John Walczak shared, ‘It’s been amazing to witness our tenth KCLA cohort build leadership and faith – then to bring it to life as a team through their student-led practicum, evangelising young people.’
As much of the community would recognise, raising up these leaders is an ongoing duty of care for all Catholics not just those who are or have been leaders themselves, and each year it is rewarding to see the progress that each group of students has made. Please join the Knights Catholic Leadership Academy continuing to support and pray for our young leaders as they become the next generation of leaders for our faith.
For those interested in applying for the 2026 KCLA programme, please head to: https://kcla.org.au/ or call the KSC WA State Office on 08 9368 2503 for further information.