Ave Maria Catholic Youth Conference

"In the beginning" life was different.  It was meant to be different:  better, holy, beautiful.  It was not meant to be a disaster, a series of dramas, scandals, and sins, of hurt, use and abuse; of weakness, sickness, sorrow and death.  That was not the original plan.

The creation story in Genesis 1 and 2 is meant to reveal how that original plan was supposed to go and how much our Father loves us.  See, when we look at the rest of creation, we see ...

John Paul II was arguably the best Youth Minister in the 2,000 year history of the Church.

The Holy Father established World Youth Day as an International event where young people could encounter the Lord in powerful ways. Literally millions of Catholic youth have experienced conversions, deepened their faith, and discovered their vocation at World Youth Day.

Every year, the Ave Maria Youth Conference helps Catholic teens and youth ministers to share in t...

Things are coming together for the 4th Annual Youth Conference! We hope that you are getting excited because we certainly are!

We ask that you please pray for those who will attend the conference this summer and for those who have attended our conferences in the past. We hope the Ave Maria Catholic Youth Conference has been instrumental in the lives of these youth, bringing them ever closer to the love and knowledge of Christ.

If you have any questions or ...

The second day of the youth conference started off well as teens and adults enthusiastically move from one place to another. The conference team is very gracious for the speakers in attendance throughout the week. A big thank you goes out to: Martin Doman, Fr. David Engo, John Leyendecker, Brigid Sweeney, and Sean Dalton. Thank you so much.

Saturday’s session offered a variety of different talks given by John, Fr. Engo and Brigid. All talks were motivational, spiritua...

Wow what a week so far. The Ave Maria Youth Conference is officially up and running. Students from all over are beginning to rush into campus as I write. It’s so good to see surrounding communities coming together to rejoice in the power of prayer, love, and peace. Teens are already talking and laughing with soon to be new friends.

A big thanks goes out to the staff and students who have spent 3 days thus far working to put together a terrific event for those attendi...

"For such a time as this we have been born", these are the opening words of Rev. John Gallagher at the Conference today. The opening line set the spiritual tone for the youth conference as kids from all over the United States packed into the ballroom located at Ave Maria University. Miracles are expected here, life altering experiences. After the deeply insightful and uplifting speech by Rev. Gallagher, Sean Dalton was introduced to the audience. Within seconds of Sean's presence the entire b...