Washington D.C., Jan 7, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
Some 3,500 young Catholics who gathered in Washington, D.C., for SEEK25 earlier this week said goodbye to new friends late Sunday morning as the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) conference came to an end.
Spirits were uplifted and joyful following the concluding Mass as some 3,500 young Catholics, priests, and religious poured out of the Washington Hilton in downtown Washington, D.C.
Bishop Nelson Jesus Pérez of Philadelphia delivered the homily, telling those gathered for the final liturgy: “Never, never, never underestimate the power of the spirit of God working in you, through you, and despite you.”
“It is such an incredible blessing to have seen SEEK, both in Salt Lake City as well as here in Washington, D.C., to see, combined, more than 21,000 on fire Catholics,” 40 Days for Life founder David Bereit told CNA after the Mass.
“It provides enormous hope for the current state of the Church as well as for the future of the Church,” the pro-life advocate and recent Catholic convert said. “To hear so many great speakers, to meet so many young people who are falling deeper in love with Our Lord, and to see them making commitments to go out and set the world on fire.”
“I have great hope for where the Church is going, and it makes me so proud to be a Catholic,” he added.
Attendees reflect on their time at SEEK: joy and revelation
A student from Mercy University, Gina Capello, 20, told CNA that she had been struck by “seeing so many people come together with such joy, especially during adoration — just looking around and seeing people reach out to Jesus, all wanting the same thing.”
“We all want God,” she added.
Katerina Carducci, a recent graduate of Clemson University, told CNA that her experience at SEEK25 had been one of “revelation.” Carducci explained that she uses a wheelchair on account of a nerve pain disorder in her left leg, which prevents her from being able to walk for extended periods of time.
“I had a really bad flare-up yesterday and the day before,” the young woman told CNA. “I was like, ‘Why is this happening now at SEEK, when this is supposed to be a great time and everyone coming together?’”
However, at Eucharistic adoration on Friday night, which was coordinated by FOCUS to take place at the same time at the SEEK conference in Salt Lake City, Carducci said she felt that God “opened my eyes to show me that it’s like, not only is this pain the pain that Jesus feels, but it’s also how Jesus feels when we don’t turn to him.”
“As someone in a wheelchair, a lot of the time, it’s like I’m invisible almost,” she continued. “And it feels like not a lot of people, when they see someone in a wheelchair, see the person — they see the chair first.”
“God’s shown me that this is how Jesus feels sometimes, even though he’s always here with us, we just don’t see that ‘does Jesus also feel this invisible,’ so that’s something that I’ve been praying on a little bit today,” Carducci said.
‘SEEK is for the Church’: record growth and SEEK26
This past week marked the beginning of a new chapter of growth for the FOCUS flagship event, with a record-high attendance of more than 21,000 participants between the two locations in Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C.
Speaking to the increasing popularity of the conference, Lizzi Lugo, the FOCUS missions director and emcee for the Washington, D.C., event told CNA that FOCUS is “anticipating continued growth” from past years. Next year, SEEK will take place in three locations across the U.S.: Denver; Columbus, Ohio; and Fort Worth, Texas.
Lugo told CNA that as the event grows, FOCUS hopes to make SEEK the same experience across locations year to year.
“We really wanted to emphasize live speakers, live content, that same SEEK experience, [with] Mission Way, having our sponsors involved, having religious orders come and run booths and talk to students,” she said.
This year, several speakers, including Bereit; Monsignor James Shea, the president of the University of Mary in North Dakota; and theologian Edward Sri flew between Salt Lake City and D.C. in order to be present at both locations.
Although Lugo noted the prominent presence of FOCUS missionaries and content catered toward them, she said “SEEK is for everyone.” Out of all of the opportunities that FOCUS offers participants, including retreats, mission trips, and summer projects, she said, “SEEK really is the widest capture point.”
“You don’t really need to be super churched, you don’t need to be super well catechized to come and experience it,” she told CNA.
Lugo also said FOCUS leadership has witnessed “a desire for partnership with the Church as a whole” in its coordination of the event.
“Seek isn’t just the FOCUS thing,” she added. “SEEK is for the Church.”
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