CYMFed - What's Possible?

What’s Possible? Covid Success Stories from the world of Catholic Youth Ministry

 The Catholic Youth Ministry Federation of England & Wales (CYMFed) have released a set of stories showcasing some of the ground-breaking work that’s been done with young people over the last year.

 The document, called What’s Possible?, draws together stories from fourteen different projects across England & Wales. Among them are CAFOD’s online assemblies, an online ‘watch along’ of ‘The Chosen,’ last year’s ‘National Youth Funday,’ and a host of other projects, some online and some in the flesh.

 Bishop Ralph Heskett, the Bishop for Youth for England & Wales, said “I am greatly encouraged by the breadth of examples of outreach to our young people that has been undertaken during the Covid pandemic... This has been a time of struggle, loss and frustration for so many young people and I am delighted that the Youth Ministry community has found creative and sometimes new ways of reaching out to our young friends”

The document is called “What’s Possible? – Stories of Catholic Youth Ministry during the pandemic” and it can be found at HERE

The Dignity of Work and Fair Wage

Since 2019, we have been highlighting our work in supporting an exciting project set up in Leeds Diocese by the Leeds Justice and Peace Commission, which aimed at engaging more 16-30 year olds around the issue of Catholic Social Teaching called SPARK! Social Justice.

Since 1891 the church has spoken a great deal about the human dignity in the workplace and the call for a just and fair wage. Pope Pius XI in “Quadragesimo Anno”, which is the document celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII encyclical Rerum Novarum, refers to a just wage by saying that “every effort must therefore be made that workers of families receive a wage large enough to meet ordinary family needs adequately.

As part of the continuing project, in the video below, YCW National President Marc Besford talks to us about the dignity of work and the right to fair pay and how young people should be treated in the place of work.

That dignity needs to be restored as unemployment has once more become a burning issue, and unemployment is reaching record levels even in nations that for decades have enjoyed a certain degree of prosperity, there is a renewed need to appreciate the importance of dignified work, of which Saint Joseph is an exemplary patron.

Pope Francis recently said to young people: “Don’t wait until tomorrow to contribute your energy, your audacity and your creativity to changing our world. You are the NOW of God, and he wants you to bear fruit!”. The YCW is keen to be part of this mission and we are calling on society to pay attention to what young people are saying and support us to build a future where: technology is there to assist and improve the quality of life for human beings never the other way round; young people’s God-given dignity can be respected in every aspect, especially in the workplace, where they fulfil their vocation; with sustainability, freedom, peace and love present in every aspect of our lives.

Feast Of St Antony of Padua

Today we celebrate the feast of St Antony of Padua. Our HQ is dedicated to St Antony. We wish a happy feast to our friends at St Antony’s Centre as well as the parish we are situated in.

St. Antony’s life is what every Christian’s life is meant to be; a steady courage to face the ups and downs of life, the call to love and forgive, to be concerned for the needs of others, to deal with crisis great and small, and to have our feet solidly on the ground of total trusting love and dependence on God.

It is in St Antony's love of the word of God and his prayerful efforts to understand and apply it to the situations of everyday life that the Church especially wants us to imitate. With our method of SEE, JUDGE and ACT we as young people are able to look at our own reality and apply faith in order to change the world around us.

St Antony of Padua, pray for us

Feast Day Of Pope St Paul VI

On May 29th the Church celebrated the feast day of Pope St Paul VI, whose anniversary of his election to the Papacy is later this month on the 21st June. This feast day is an opportunity to remember a key document in Catholic Social Teaching around the world of work that he wrote - Populorum Progressio.

Populorum Progressio outlines the Church’s support for: the right to a just wage; the right to security of employment; the right to fair and reasonable working conditions; the right to join a union; and the universal destination of resources and goods.

The universal destination of resources and goods means that the goods of creation are destined for humankind as a whole, but also recognises the individual right to private property. In addition, political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.

This document builds on previous commitments from the Church around protection for workers and upholding the dignity of people in our economic systems, and has itself been a foundation for later works that reinforce these themes.

Joseph Cardijn, the founder of the YCW, rooted the mission of our Movement on these principles many decades earlier but the influence of his work has meant that the Church remains focused on upholding the dignity of work and protection for those who are the poorest and most vulnerable.

National Chaplain of the YCW, Fr John Marsland, said: “The Church has taught for over a century now that the world of work needs to be fair and just, one that protects the dignity of workers and encourages human flourishing. The YCW aims to put these expectations into reality and our mission remains as relevant today as it was when we were founded.”

130th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

On the 15th May 1891 Pope Leo XIII published an encyclical “Rerum Novarum”, the first papal document to address the issue of the plight of industrial workers. The letter was a key stage in the development of Catholic Social teaching. The encyclical also laid out the elements of a just wage that would orient workers’ demands for many decades into the future.

Published in 1891 at the height of the Industrial Revolution, “Rerum Novarum” was also a key formative document in the life of the young Joseph, Cardinal, Cardijn. It was a document that would have a decisive impact on his whole life as an advocate for the workers, particularly young workers.

In addition Rerum Novarum acknowledged the essential role of Trade Unions as the only reliable way to protect the rights, safety, and well-being of workers and their families. Pope Leo XIII used Rerum novarum to depict the plight of the urban poor and condemn unrestricted capitalism. Chief among the remedies it prescribed were the formation of trade unions and the introduction of collective bargaining.

Unions would go on to successfully lobby for the creation of a five-day work week, eight-hour work day, pensions and benefits for families, living wages for workers, and safe working conditions.

Trade Unionism was also a driving force in the creation of the YCW. Our founder, Joseph Cardijn, originally called the growing movement in Belgium the “Young Trade Unionists” and it was the plight of workers that drew Cardijn to his lifelong mission of fighting for justice and the empowerment of young workers

Later, in 1931, when Pope Pius XI, published the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno to mark the 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, he made specific reference to Cardijn’s emerging YCW movement.

“The ranks of the workers themselves are already giving happy and promising signs of a social reconstruction,” Pope Pius XI wrote. “To Our soul’s great joy, We see in these ranks also the massed companies of young workers, who are receiving the counsel of Divine Grace with willing ears and striving with marvellous zeal to gain their comrades for Christ.” (no.140).

Feast of St Joseph the Worker & International Workers' Day 2021

Today marks the joint celebration of the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker and International Workers' Day.

It is a chance to acknowledge the role of workers in our world and renew our commitment to ensuring there is dignity in work.

In 1955, Pope Pius XII also established the day as the Feast of St Joseph the Worker in order to reflect Joseph's status as a model for and patron of workers. The Church highlights, especially, Joseph's patience, persistence, courage, and hard work.

 This year is also special as on December 8th 2020, Pope Francis issued a new Apostolic Letter entitled Patris corde (“With a Father’s Heart”). The Letter marks the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To celebrate the anniversary, Pope Francis has proclaimed a special “Year of St Joseph,” beginning on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 2020 and extending to the same feast in 2021.

"Let us implore Saint Joseph the Worker to help us find ways to express our firm conviction that no young person, no person at all, no family should be without work!" Pope Francis, Patris Corde.

 As we honour St Joseph, let us ask his prayers for the world and for the Church. For those who cannot find work and those fearful about their own employment. We also ask that you keep workers in your prayers and continue your support of our mission to young workers in particular.

 At the conclusion of his Letter, he adds another prayer to St Joseph, which he encourages all of us to pray together:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage,
and defend us from every evil.  Amen.