Kolbe students joined young people from Catholic schools across Western Australia for the 2026 Laudato Si’ Youth Summit, the second gathering of its kind inspired by Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.
Our Ministry Captains were joined by Year 8 and Year 11 student leaders for a series of interactive sessions exploring First Nations perspectives, artificial intelligence, responsible waste disposal and water consumption.
Ministry Captain Reese reflected on the importance of placing young people at the heart of this conversation:
“The Youth Summit gathers students from WA’s Catholic schools to discuss the principles Pope Francis addresses in Laudato Si’, allowing parts of his action plan to be carried out in the hands of the youth, in whose hands the Earth’s future lies.”
For Ministry Captain Daniela, the First Nations session offered a particularly powerful reflection:
“Country is alive, Country is timeless, Country is us. Country listens, feels, teaches and remembers. There is no ‘I’ – we belong to Country. This relationship is reciprocal. The river represents life; with it, we receive life, without it, we aren’t alive.”
The Summit was particularly timely as our students prepare to explore these themes further through upcoming Religious Education units and our College-wide Season of Creation liturgy.
The challenge now is to bring what was heard and experienced at the Summit back to Kolbe – recognising that care for creation is not simply an environmental concern, but an expression of our faith and our responsibility to one another and our common home.
