Youth Support Project grants to Seminarians Jubilee Pilgrimage to Rome

The Province 20 Youth Support Project (YSP) has made grants of $400 each to five Redemptorist Mater Seminarians on their Jubilee Pilgrimage to Rome, supported by Notre Dame University Fremantle campus where they are students and meet the age criteria of the YSP. Another six older seminarians not qualifying for YSP grants have been subsidised by a generous donation of $3,000 from a Dianella Brother.

The Redemptorist Mater Seminary is committed to nurturing seminarians who, with God’s guidance may become missionary priests of the Archdiocese of Perth.

The Jubilee Year 2025, announced by His Holiness Pope Francis, is an extraordinary year of Grace for the Catholic Church and a pivotal moment for Catholics worldwide. Jubilee Years take place every 25 years, making this occasion especially significant. Catholics around the world Mourn the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Sunday 2025.

The theme for 2025, Pilgrims of Hope, powerfully underscores the Redemptorist Mater Seminary and the University of Notre Dame’s commitment to faith, reconciliation and the Church’s vital mission of spreading hope throughout the world.

The University is dedicated to the spiritual and intellectual development of future priests and as part of this commitment, the University has added its generous financial support to the initiative of the Redemptorist Mater Seminary in Perth to send these 11 Seminarians to participate in the pilgrimage from the 28th of July until the 4th of August 2025.

The Pilgrims of Hope will support the Seminarians by deepening their faith, engaging with a global Catholic community and strengthening their vocation. This journey will allow them to grow closer to Christ, together with hundreds of thousands of other Seminarians and Catholic community members who share their faith and interests.

Some of the activities for the Redemptorist Seminarians will include visiting the Vatican encompassing the magnificent Sistine Chapel and Museum, St Peter’s Basilica and the revered burial site of St Peter. They will celebrate Mass on a Saturday evening in the Roman Parish of San Leonardo Murialdo and a supper shared with 400 Italian Brothers and Sisters. They will also visit the home of St Francis of Assisi, the Cathedral of San Rufino and the Basilica of St Clare and Blessed Cario Acutis.

They will pass through the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica, the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, St Mary Major and St Paul’s Basilica Outside the Walls, receiving the indulgence.

The Seminarians will attend the Jubilee of Youth at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome where over a million young people are expected on the 2nd and 3rd of August for the Youth Pilgrimage.

Together with an estimated 100,000 young people from all over the world, on the 4th of August they will also participate in a Vocational Meeting of the Neocatechumenal Way with the Initiator of the Way, Mr Kiko Arguello accompanied by Father Mario Pezzi and Miss Ascension Romero at the University of Tor Vergata.

The Province 20 Youth Support Project is proud to support the five young Seminarians, helping to make their vision a reality.

Peter Johnston