SEEK25 conferences in US, Germany energize young Catholics to share hope in Jesus

SALT LAKE CITY (OSV News) -- The excitement in the air was palpable as more than 17,000 Catholics descended on the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City Jan. 1-5 for SEEK25.

This year's SEEK conference, organized annually by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), also had a satellite conference attended by more than 3,000 people in Washington Jan. 2-5, and another in Cologne, Germany, attended by nearly 500 people from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2. This was the first year SEEK was held in three separate locations -- and the first in Europe.

"The adventure of seeking is no stranger to Utah," said Bishop Oscar A. Solis of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. He presided at the conference's opening Mass where he was joined by 489 concelebrating priests from across the U.S. In his homily for SEEK25's opening Mass, Bishop Solis highlighted the historical significance of seekers in Utah, from Indigenous peoples to early Catholic explorers and pioneers as he welcomed participants to the conference.

Over the course of SEEK, participants had the opportunity to join daily liturgies, engage in Eucharistic adoration and receive the sacrament of reconciliation. They also heard profound messages from inspiring keynote speakers, such as that shared by Father Mike Schmitz of The Bible in a Year and The Catechism in a Year podcasts.

God's children need him no matter how often they, in their words and actions, ask him to leave them alone, said Father Schmitz. The podcasting priest was the keynote speaker on Jan. 2 for the Salt Lake City SEEK25 conference. Through original sin, he said, all mankind inherits a brokenness which can only be overcome by Jesus Christ.

"Sin is when I say, 'Listen God, I know what you want. I don't care, I want what I want,'" Father Schmitz said. When people sin, he explained, they attempt to find happiness without God -- but true happiness can only be found in him.

Conference participants were also instructed and inspired in their faith. The Making Missionary Disciples track had presenters ranging from Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, to Trent Horn. Bishop Cozzens is board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., while Horn is a convert to the faith and works for CatholicAnswers as a staff apologist.

Collectively, the presenters explored SEEK25's theme "Follow Me" in 42 impact sessions.

Among the topics addressed in the sessions were gender identity, sexual brokenness and social narcissism, drug use and the rise of artificial intelligence. Other sessions focused on relationships: healing them when they are broken, accompaniment and the sanctity of life and of marriage. Still other sessions provided tools lay leaders could utilize in their home parishes with sessions on presenting the Gospel, teaching individuals to pray, building missionary disciples, leadership and the priesthood.

Presenters also outlined what the Church has to offer today; how the Savior heals; loving your neighbor; the pure love of Jesus Christ; along with what the examples of the saints, the Virgin Mary, and the life of Christ can teach the faithful.

Campus ministry and seminarian tracks were also offered.

In the conference's Mission Way hundreds of vendors connected students to religious orders, educational and service opportunities and other Catholic organizations.

Mallory Griffin, a freshman from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, came to SEEK for the first time. Griffin said she has seen the church ministries on her campus flourish and wanted to be part of the greater SEEK experience.

"With having things like SEEK and having different campus ministries on college campuses, I think that's definitely bringing a lot more young people" to the Catholic Church, she said.

For Utah Catholics, being among so many faithful was awe-inspiring.

"Our church -- it's much bigger than we could imagine," Rigo Tellez, a Weber State University student from Logan, Utah, said. "I think a lot of us fall into this trap (of thinking) it's just like the small little thing we do on Sundays, and that's just all we do -- but there's just so much more richness to it."

Throughout the conference, along with the formal programming, participants met on an ad hoc basis, prayed and studied Scripture together. For some, these were life-changing experiences.

Father Steve Mateja, a priest of the Detroit Archdiocese, brought a group of about 40 Oakland University students and campus ministry staff to SEEK25. Among his group were non-Catholics: four Protestants and two self-proclaimed atheists, he said.

"One kid just turns to me yesterday in small group and he says to me, 'I want to become Catholic. Can I be baptized?'" Fr. Mateja said. "That's the reason why we're doing this. It's to bring kids to Jesus Christ, to help them know the encounter that will be life-giving for not just a day, not just at a conference, but to take with them beyond this, in that relationship with Christ."

FOCUS was founded in 1998 to promote encounters like these, founder Curtis Martin said at a SEEK25 press conference.

"My experience is that the vast majority of Catholics never get a chance to share their faith, never be able to talk about why Christ is important," he said.

Martin referenced his experience with SEEK in Cologne. "There were people from many Western European countries, and it's a dark and challenging place there," he said. "And I will tell you: When you're in a dark cave, and you just light one candle, it is a game changer."

He noted the evangelizing impact that millions of college-age young people can have today, especially on the handful of people close enough to them to notice and follow their choices.

"That's called discipleship: I'm following you as you follow Christ," Martin said.

As SEEK25 concluded its Jan. 2-5 conference in Washington, Archbishop Nelson J. Perez of Philadelphia spoke at the closing Mass about how the feast of the Epiphany -- observed Jan. 5 in the U.S. this year -- shows "the source of our hope" in Christ at the start of the church's Jubilee Year of hope.

"What does hope look like?" the archbishop asked the several thousand attendees gathered.

He recalled that during his time serving as bishop of the Cleveland Diocese he spoke to a group of Cleveland Clinic doctors. One asked him, "With everything going on in the world -- and, frankly, in the church -- do you have reason to hope?"

"I said to him, 'Doctor, I gave my life to a faith that believes that a dead man came back to life,'" he said. "That would be a yes."

He emphasized to the young people gathered that "at the heart of what it means to be a Christian disciple" is believing that Jesus died and rose from the dead. And "because he did, we also will too, and there lies our hope."

Archbishop Perez added that despite the beautiful Christmas manger scenes so often depicted on holy cards and living nativities, Mary and Joseph in reality experienced a lot of trouble and turmoil as they carried out God's will amid dangers like King Herod's slaughter of the innocents.

"In the midst of that is the Emmanuel, 'God is with us,' reminding us to not let our hearts be troubled; to have faith in him," he said.

The archbishop noted that in the Gospel account of the visit of the magi, it says that they "went back by another way" after their encounter with the Christ child.

"We might go back to the place we came from, but I know that grace has touched you; and you and I will also go back by another way," he said, with "a changed heart."

Archbishop Perez offered a parting thought to the young adults returning to their colleges following the conference.

"Never, never, never underestimate the power of the spirit of God working in you, through you and despite you," he said.

The Mass concluded FOCUS' first ever satellite event in Washington, which sold out and took place with some virtual connection to the main SEEK conference in Salt Lake City.

FOCUS also announced that SEEK26 will take place at three U.S. venues -- Columbus, Ohio; Denver and Fort Worth, Texas -- Jan. 1-5, 2026.

Bishop Earl K. Fernandez from the Diocese of Columbus said at a press conference Jan. 3 that he was excited his diocese would host SEEK next year.

"As a diocese, I don't think we can be reactive; we have to be proactive," he said. "And I see SEEK bringing a lot of energy, spiritual energy to our diocese, elevating our whole diocese."