From September 18 to 21, 2025, the Fifth Congress of Young Consecrated People took place at the Shrine of Licheń, bringing together over five hundred religious men and women from more than one hundred congregations and communities. The Redemptorists also participated in the meeting, with the presence of the Major Seminary and a junior brother. Although autumn was at hand, the experience was experienced as a true breath of spring in the Church: an occasion of joy, communion, and renewed awareness of vocation.
Representatives from over 100 congregations and religious communities gathered at the Congress. It was an opportunity to deepen existing relationships with our peers from other institutes and to establish new ones. In addition to getting to know one another and the charisms we live by, much time was dedicated to common prayer during the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, because it is Christ himself who unites us.
The motto of this meeting was taken from the words of Sacred Scripture: Behold the man (Jn 19:5), which encouraged us to recognize the humanity of Jesus, his closeness to us, both in beautiful and joyful moments, as well as in difficult moments, full of pain and darkness in life.
Distinguished guests were not lacking: the liturgical assemblies were presided over, among others, by Bishop Krzysztof Wętkowski, Bishop of the Diocese of Włocławek, and Bishop Artur Ważny, Bishop of Sosnowiec. Speakers included the well-known and esteemed Fathers Amedeo Cencini, FdCC, and Tomasz Nowak, OP. In our reflections, we focused on the humanity of Jesus, but not only that: through the prism of His humanity, we also sought to look at our own life experiences.
The Fifth Congress of Young Consecrated People, for some of us the first in our lifetime, for others already one of many, was certainly an opportunity to strengthen our vocation and open ourselves to God’s grace through prayer, reflection, and the people we met along our journey, realizing that, despite our different paths, together we tend toward a single goal, which is Christ.
Grateful to the Most Holy Redeemer for this time, we wish to enter with confidence into the new academic and formative year that is about to begin, knowing and experiencing that God is for us a Father who tenderly holds the child close to himself. […] Mother, who will never forget us […] and that His love has no limits or boundaries, as the Congress hymn reminds us: “Behold the man.”
Fr. Jan Gawroński, CSsR.
photo: FB/ Congress of Young Consecrated Persons
Source: www.redemptor.pl
