Meeting in Rome of the International Youth Advisory Body (IYAB)

From 28-31 October 2025, the International Youth Advisory Body (IYAB) is meeting in Rome at the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

This meeting brings together the members of the second group of young members –appointed in 2024 – and follows on from the first meeting held in December 2024.

From the presentation of WYD in Seoul in 2027, to a reflection on the evangelization of youth within the family; from the ways to link youth pastoral care and family pastoral case, to the relevance of Christus vivit in the current social reality: these are the topics addressed during the four-day meeting, which will include a visit to the Borgo Laudato Si’.

Participation, synodality, and mission will be the starting point of our reflections which will be developed in conversation in the spirit, with sharing groups and practical experiences of developing proposals, to allow for a true workshop that will provide the Dicastery with concrete guidelines for action.

*****

The International Youth Advisory Body (IYAB) is an advisory body linked to the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which aims to bring to the attention of the Holy See the point of view of youth on the various issues that are central to the mission of the Church.

Since 2018, following the explicit request of the Final Document of the Synod on Young People (cf. No. 123), 20 youth from different regions of the world and from various international movements, associations, and communities have been offering their contribution to the Pope's collaborators in the Roman Curia, in a synodal way, to deepen issues related to youth pastoral care and other topics of more general interest.

As a “spokesperson” for young people, the IYAB offers the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life – as well as other dicasteries that request its advice – consultative and proactive support on behalf of young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, poor, or alone, but also all those who live on the margins of society or have difficulty accessing educational and employment opportunities.

The members appointed for the 2024-2027 three-year period who participated in the meeting are:

Australia: Madeline FORDE, Brazil: Erika TELES DOS SANTOS, Canada: Sally YASMINE, Colombia: Miguel Francisco ROJAS NAVARRO, Corea: Jiun Anastasia LEE Cuba: Aniel Luis SANTIESTEBAN GARCIA, Denmark: Sara ANGELUCCI, France: Thibault PFEFFER, Guinea: Beatrice CAMARA, Hungary: Rita MATANYI, India: Freya FRANCIS, Indonesia: Nathaniel MARVEL ARIFIN, Lebanon: Tracy ALCHALFOUN, Mexico: José Miguel GUTIÉRREZ CARREÒN, Nigeria: Gosife EZE, Peru: Ximena Alejandra VALDIVIA MURO, the Philippines: Giancarlo FRANCISCO Portugal: Rodrigo GONÇALVES FIGUEIREDO, the United States of America: Wyatt OLIVAS, Zimbabwe: Selestino MUPFIGO.