Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh will address young people from across England and Wales on Saturday 2 March at the 2019 Flame Congress in the SSE Arena in Wembley, London. Flame is the largest Catholic youth event in England and Wales with up to 10,000 young people expected to fill the arena for a day of prayer, adoration, catechesis, reflection, celebration and praise.
The theme for Flame 2019 is ‘#Significance’. Today, young people often feel constrained to measure self-esteem and self-worth simply by Twitter and Instagram “likes”, responses to Facebook status updates and Snapchat conversations. Flame will explore the deep Catholic Truth of our being; that we are ‘God’s work of art’ (Eph 2:10) and we can only ever really understand ourselves in relationship with Him. Flame 2019 will offer our young people a fresh perspective that they are loved and they are significant, based on a personal relationship with God the Father.
Throughout the day speakers will give bursts of input, interspersed with world class music and
Archbishop Eamon Martin will address the gathering on Saturday afternoon. The archbishop was as a Synod Father during the Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment in October 2018 and acted as a ‘relator’ which is a reporter or secretary to one of the English language groups. Encouraged by the Synod, in addressing the Holy Father and the Synod Hall, Archbishop Eamon said, “Young people are the agents of evangelisation to each other and, indeed, to the whole Church. During the synodal process, inspired by the Holy Spirit, we have identified the need for ‘a preferential option’ for our young people.”
He went on to say, “The Catholic Church is facing a “re-imagination of parishes and structures so that young people are heard, listened to, appreciated and encouraged.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales will address the gathering. Other speakers include Robert Madu, a Gospel preacher from the USA, rapper Guvna B and his wife, Emma, will give joint testimony. Music and worship will be led by award-winning worship leader, Tim Hughes, who has written worship songs including Here I Am to Worship, Happy Day, The Way and Hope & Glory.
The Flame Congress gets bigger each year and this year they hope to attract up to 10,000 youn g people from across the country. The event is aimed primarily at young people aged 10-13.
Flame is an initiative of the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation (CYMFed) which is separate to, but recognised and supported, by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales. The CYMFed Chair represents the CYMFed membership to the Bishops’ Conference through the Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis. In addition, the Bishop responsible for Youth is a member of the CYMFed Board.
For more on Flame 2019 see https://cymfed.org.uk/flame2019/
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