BAY RIDGE — In a sign of Youth Day’s overwhelming popularity, the Diocese of Brooklyn held two separate celebrations for the first time, with gatherings on successive Saturdays in Queens and Brooklyn that drew an estimated 1,500 middle and high school students.
On Oct. 24, hundreds of teens participated in the Brooklyn part of Youth Day, attending Mass at Our Lady of Angels Church in Bay Ridge, then breaking into small groups to listen to presentations from priests and lay leaders, enjoy a dance session, and have a pizza lunch before coming back together for Eucharistic adoration.
One week earlier, on Oct. 17, hundreds attended the Queens part of Youth Day at Christ the King High School in Middle Village.
Father James Kuroly, director of the diocese’s Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said the event’s popularity has soared so much over the past three years that they needed a new venue.
“Two years ago, we outgrew a parish. Last year, we outgrew a high school,” he said. “So, this year, we needed to have two different locations to accommodate everyone and to make sure that each and every individual that comes is treated personally and has a personal encounter with Christ.”
This year’s diocese Youth Day theme was “Take Courage! I Have Overcome the World,” the same as World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea. The theme reflects the words Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples at the Last Supper, urging them to have courage in the face of life’s challenges and difficulties.
“We want you to know Jesus Christ as a friend,” Bishop Robert Brennan told the teens in his homily at the Oct. 24 Mass.
Evelyn Cortes, a sophomore at Pace High School in Manhattan and a parishioner of St. Agatha Church in Sunset Park, said she attended to serve as an example to teens in her community.
“I came here to show them that it’s possible to get closer to God,” she told the Tablet. “I think there should be more events like this to motivate us.”
Angel Mendoza, a senior at Digital Arts and Cinema Technology High School in Cobble Hill, said he came to reinvigorate his faith.
“I haven’t been to church in a while, so I really want to go back to it,” he explained.
Kevin Sandoval, a parishioner of St. Athanasius-St. Dominic Parish in Bensonhurst, who addressed his peers at Mass, said Youth Day is important because it gives young people a chance to see that they are part of a family in the Church.
“In a world where young people can sometimes feel isolated, misunderstood, or pressure to fit in, a day like today reminds us that we are not alone,” he said.
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He also thanked Bishop Brennan for being there, telling him his “presence here reminds us that we are not simply the future of the Church, but we’re also an important part of the Church right now.”
The popularity of Youth Day in the diocese appears to reflect a nationwide trend of young people embracing Catholicism. According to a Harvard University Cooperative Election Study, the percentage of members of Gen Z identifying as Catholic increased by six points in just one year — from 15% in 2022 to 21% in 2023.
Bishop Brennan credited the work done by youth ministers at the parish level with the enthusiasm for Youth Day.
“We’re in two locations, two very large locations. And it’s a great spirit among the people, a sign really that something very good is happening at the parish level because they’re not coming here alone. They’re coming in groups,” he told the Tablet. “I always tell groups when they gather like this that when they give their time to Jesus, he gives it back to them transformed. It’s a gift.”
