Annual gathering of Catholic youth held in Stična

Stična – The 41st meeting of Catholic youths, known as Youth Stična, is held at Stična Monastery, south-east of Ljubljana, on Saturday. Several thousand youths are expected to attend. President Borut Pahor addressed the gathering, urging fearlessness and hope for a better world.

The slogan of this year’s event is Choose the Tempest, as the organisers call on Catholic youths to step out of their comfort zones and go for challenges and growth.

The meeting began with addresses and a mass celebrated by Koper Bishop Jurij Bizjak, and in the afternoon there will be workshops and a sports tournament, followed by a concert in the evening.

In his address, Pahor thanked the youths for their warm welcome and urged them, in line with this year’s slogan, to move forward into the future with courage and without fear, and never to lose hope for a better world.

“Continue to uphold the values of solidarity, friendship, mutual respect and, above all, always and everywhere, care for each other and for the community, because only together can we achieve all that we set out to do,” he said as quoted by the president’s office.

“Remember, in the end good always wins; if it doesn’t win, it’s not over yet,” he added.

Pahor received Youth Stična volunteers at the Presidential Palace at the end of December 2017. Last year, he presented the organisers of the festival with a letter of appreciation from the president “for their long-standing and valuable mission to spread and promote among young people the values of volunteering, cooperation, humanity and solidarity for the good of the community”.

The festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, brings together several thousands of young people every year. Attendance was somewhat down in the last two years due to Covid, when the format of the gathering had to be changed. Last year, the festival attracted just over 2,000 youths.

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