Perth youth walk together in the footsteps of St Francis

Eighty young Catholics from the Neocatechumenal Way recently traveled through the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia to mark the Franciscan Jubilee Year, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. Accompanied by catechists, priests, and seminarians from Redemptoris Mater Seminary, the group began their pilgrimage on October 1 with a penitential celebration at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Maida Vale Parish.

The pilgrims traveled from Perth to Bunbury to pray Morning Prayer at the cathedral before continuing through Collie, Williams, and Kojonup to reach Albany and Camp Quaranup. During the journey at William Bay National Park, the group participated in a teaching session on St. Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures, which focused on the goodness of creation and human dignity.

The participants discussed Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, specifically addressing how artificial intelligence might impact human dignity when technological progress is disconnected from a proper understanding of the person.