Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International in the Diocese of Christchurch
The Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International (CSYMI) has a vision to inspire, renew, and equip Catholic schools as centres of evangelisation. Its primary aim is to help Catholic school leaders, teachers, and students develop and sustain a personal living relationship with Jesus and a strong Catholic identity, through ongoing formation and participation in the life and mission of the Church. Formation is the key.
In February of this year, a group of student leaders and teachers from John Paul II High School, St Thomas of Canterbury College, and Catholic Cathedral College joined with diocesan staff to attend the Catholic School Youth Ministry Equipping School in Canberra. The “Equipping School” is a gathering
of student ministry leaders from Catholic colleges to ‘equip’ them to effectively
serve in their own schools, by leading junior retreats, prayer services, service programmes, and developing ‘peer to peer’ ministry. In the first year of implementation in our diocese, we have groups of enthusiastic students leading junior retreats in their own secondary school, as well as leading class retreats in local Catholic primary schools.
Bishop Michael is very supportive of this programme. In 2024, he invited all Catholic secondary school principals and Directors of Religious Studies, together with priests and parish staff, to Canberra for the “Currents of Grace” conference, which was an introduction to the CSYMI model. In November 2025, a three-day ‘Spiritus’ formation programme for 120 Catholic teachers and leaders was held in Christchurch.
In 2026, the Catholic Youth Team will deliver the Equipping School here in Christchurch, and later in the year, the three pilot secondary schools will have all their Year 10 students come together for the “Catch the Wave” retreat experience. Following this, they will be invited to be part of a Year 11 Youth Ministry class within their school in 2027.
In this first year of implementation, the impact on the young people in our pilot schools has been significant. This has led to strong interest from our Catholic Primary schools to also be involved, through the CSYMI Junior programme. Eleven Catholic primary schools in our diocese will be pilot schools for CSYMI Junior in 2026. We appreciate your prayers in support of this exciting programme.
