Caribbean Catholic youth leaders gather in July

The Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) is set to host one of the most impactful gatherings of Catholic youth leadership in the region’s recent history. The 2025 AEC Leadership Conference for Diocesan Youth Leaders will bring together youth ministry teams from 19 dioceses across the English, French, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean under the theme: Pilgrims of Hope, Discipling the Now of God, July 20-27.

Organised by the AEC Youth & Vocation Commission and hosted in Montego Bay, Jamaica, this conference is more than just an event—“it is a strategic investment in the spiritual, pastoral, and social infrastructure of the region,” said Archbishop Kenneth Richards of Kingston, Chairman of the AEC Commission on Youth and Vocation, in a June 5 release.

The release stated that the conference aims to address “a critical leadership gap” in the Caribbean Church. Each delegate team—composed of laity and clergy—will be equipped with practical tools and pastoral frameworks designed to: strengthen diocesan and parish-level youth structures, promote collaboration between youth leaders, clergy, and lay movements and foster missionary discipleship that responds to the real needs of today’s youth.

It stated that in contrast to models in regions like Honduras, where local leadership has allowed for “deeper, more consistent” implementation of initiatives like Food For The Poor, “the Caribbean has lacked such an empowered, networked leadership base.” This conference takes “a bold step” toward changing that reality.

The release underscored that this is not “a one-time intervention”—it is a seed-planting movement. Each delegate will be expected to serve as a “multiplying agent” upon returning home to their diocese—training parish youth ministers, mentoring emerging leaders, and launching new initiatives grounded in Catholic Social Teaching and Gospel witness.

“If each delegate meaningfully impacts even 25 young people within the first year of returning home, the ripple effect would reach at least 2,375 youth directly. Over three years, this number could expand exponentially, especially with the ongoing diocesan-level support structures the conference aims to catalyse,” the release said.

By forming leaders with both spiritual depth and social awareness, the AEC is preparing youth ministers who can mobilise their communities for community development, justice, and peace building and sustain parish-based and diocesan initiatives addressing poverty, education, and family life.

For the first time in this format, the conference will unite delegates from across linguistic and cultural lines—English, French, and Dutch-speaking dioceses—embodying the synodal spirit of communion and collaboration.

“This creates a unique space for: cross-cultural dialogue and cooperation, sharing of best practices across linguistic and regional lines and strengthening regional identity and solidarity in the mission of youth ministry,” the release stated.

It mentioned that the estimated 400,000 Catholic youth in the AEC region “deserve leaders who not only minister to them but also with and from among them.”

“With your support, this vision can become a reality, bringing renewed energy, deeper faith, and lasting impact to thousands of young Catholics throughout the region,” the release ends.