Yen Fasano offers her time as a chaperone for the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) because she believes in the mission to bring young people to see the universal Church with their peers “worshipping and growing in faith and holiness.” 

With more than 20,000 high school students “feeling the freedom to worship (God) and to love him and to learn about him, that’s really powerful for a youth to see,” said Fasano, the interim president of the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation who served as a chaperone for NCYC in 2017. 

The next conference, hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, takes place Nov. 16-18 in Indianapolis. Fasano, a parishioner of All Saints in Lakeville, is chaperoning students from a number of archdiocesan parishes, with her 15-year-old daughter, Maria, making her first trip.  

“I can’t wait for the grace, and I hope the Holy Spirit invades her heart,” Fasano said. 

NCYC started in 1981 with encouragement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

Fasano believes every high schooler should have the opportunity to attend, especially when the median age of those who have made up their mind to leave the Church is 13, she said.  

“Give them an experience they will never forget for the rest of their life,” she said, knowing that the teens are “so loved, known and seen by (God) and that he wants them to live in abundance, joy and freedom.” 

Fasano believes her daughter will return “very confident in her identity and recognize the Church is alive.”  

“The young Church seeks to learn and grow and love Christ,” Fasano said. “And I’m just excited for her to be loved … by Christ in the midst of all her peers.” 

Mornings at the conference include time to pray with other young people, and hear a speaker on the main stage, said Amy Schroeder, director of youth formation at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville. Afterward, attendees move to a conference center connected to Lucas Oil Stadium for their choice of breakout sessions “important to them in their faith to help them grow,” she said.  

An exposition hall offers the chance to meet with Catholic college representatives and Catholic vendors from across the United States. There, attendees can learn about Catholic vocations, service opportunities and camps, Schroeder said. “And there will be service projects and fun things” through which young people can connect with each other, she said.  

Mass and adoration are offered, as are workshops and praise and worship. This year’s concert features popular duo “for King and Country.” 

The closing Mass is “just such a cool experience to see the whole Church,” Schroeder said, with hundreds of priests processing with “a massive amount of deacons and seminarians” and sisters, providing the chance to experience “the greater Church.” 

Fasano recalls that at least one year close to 100 people attended the conference from the archdiocese. Young people from at least four parishes in the archdiocese will be attending this year. Besides All Saints, they include Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville, Risen Savior in Burnsville and St. Michael in Prior Lake.  

When the young people return home, they are expected to share their experience at their parish, Schroeder said. Some “get up and talk in front of (a) faith formation group, or share their experience at the parish, or make a little video that can go on the social media website,” Schroeder said. 

Sharing makes the experience personal, she said. “Tell me how it changed something for you, or helped you learn or grow.” 

Being a strong Catholic can be “really isolating when you’re in high school,” Schroeder said. But it’s impactful to see others that age “who are really excited, involved, engaged and love the Lord,” she said. Schroeder, 43, attended NCYC as a high school student starting in 1997. She attended as a young adult leader during college and later as a chaperone.  

Schroeder said she finds the conference “so valuable because the kids I have taken … all have really just grown into beautiful leadership roles in the Church because they saw the value,” she said. 

“We hope the experience … brings them in to love the Church,” Schroeder said. “I’m taking kids who already love the Lord. I really want them to love the greater Church.” 

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis first attended NCYC when he served as bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan. He said he found it “one of the most positive things we could offer young people.”  

“I’ve returned several times and always found it to be inspiring and a way to keep young people energized about their faith,” Archbishop Hebda said.  

Going forward, the conference will be annual, with sessions held in Long Beach, California, between the years Indianapolis hosts it. 

To learn more about the conference, visit ncyc.us.  

Former attendee recalls impact

Justine Lam said attending the National Youth Conference (NCYC) during high school in 2017 and as a youth leader in 2019 was impactful because she was surrounded by “tens of thousands of young people who were on their own faith journey just like me.”  

Now a college graduate, Lam recalled attendees “willing to learn, listen and grow in their faith.”  

In 2017, she served as a reader and her group included youth singing in the choir, prayer petitioners and those performing cultural dancing that represented Vietnamese and Latino traditions and culture. She was a parishioner of St. Anne/St. Joseph Hein in Minneapolis, and part of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement.  

“Seeing thousands of kids actively participate in Mass, listening to awesome and engaging speakers or singing praise to God was infectious, and I couldn’t help but smile and join in,” Lam said.  

She described the experience as a three-day retreat during which she could “block the distractions and submerge myself in the faith,” knowing afterward her Catholic faith “would be much stronger.” 

Calling it “a necessary renewal” through which her faith was “restored and recharged,” Lam said she became “an even prouder Catholic and was inspired to do more and be more.”