Pope John Paul II Award

Welcome to The Pope John Paul II Award

The Pope John Paul II Award is dedicated to the memory of the late Pope John Paul II whose love of young people was so profound. The Award was launched by the Papal Nuncio to Ireland His Excellency Most Rev Dr Giuseppe Lazzarotto on 7th November 2006 in the Diocese of Derry, Ireland.

If you are aged between 16 and 18 and living or going to school in the Archdiocese of Tuam, the Pope John Paul II Award will enable you to become more actively involved in the life of your parish and community.

Religion is not just for learning, nor a list of rules designed to stop you doing what you want. Religion is for living and through taking an active part in your church and community you will experience the contentment and fulfilment that comes from serving others, especially those in great need.

As well as the feeling of personal achievement that you will gain from taking part in the award, participation will help to show future employers and educators that you are a young person who can make an ongoing commitment to a task. The award is non-competitive, flexible and voluntary.

The patron of the Award is the Bishop of Derry, Most Rev Dr Séamus Hegarty. Bishop Hegarty says: “the purpose of this initiative, ‘The Pope John Paul II Award’ is to enable young people to live their faith and to witness to that faith lived out in the parish community”.

Pope Benedict XVI said to all the Bishops of Ireland on Saturday 28th October 2006 – “even if Christian commitment is considered unfashionable in some circles, there is a real spiritual hunger and a generous desire to serve others among the young people of Ireland”.

Message from the Archbishop of Tuam

It is sometimes said that our young people are the Church of tomorrow and so they are. But young people are more than just the future of the Church. They are the Church of today. As such, as well as presenting us with our greatest resource, young people also provide us with our greatest challenge.

From chatting with young people from all over our diocese I am convinced that many want to be involved in our Church. We, as a Church, need to offer young people real and meaningful opportunities to play their part in the building up of God’s kingdom.

Tuam Diocesan Youth Council was formed in early 2008 and it continues to imagine new ways of engaging with the young people of our diocese. The setting up of the Pope John Paul II Award is a way of honouring the vital role which many young people already play in their parish communities. It provides young people with a way of expressing their faith in practical ways and challenges them to reflect on their role in their Church.

I thank the Knights of St. Columbanus for their generous sponsorship of this project and I commend the Diocesan Youth Council for its energy and vision. Finally I pray God’s blessing on all who will benefit from their involvement in the Pope John Paul II Awards.

+ Michael Neary
Archbishop of Tuam

Examples of Parish involvement

When we are baptised we become members of the Body of Christ. This means that we are called to be the presence of Christ in the world. As the Body of Christ, we belong to the community of the Church. We live out this belonging in our parish. For the Church, for the Body of Christ to be fully alive everybody needs to be actively involved. There are many things we can do in our parish.

Examples of activities in the parish that can be done for the Award are:

• Reading at Mass
• Altar Server
• Eucharistic Minister
• Member of choir/folk group
• Church decoration
• Collector
• Composing prayers of the faithful
• Preparing articles for the parish bulletin
• There may be other activities that you are involved in that are not included here but may be relevant, if so please contact the Pope John Paul II Award Committee for approval.

Examples of Social Awareness projects

As members of the Body of Christ, through baptism, we make Christ present by the way we treat others. Our faith is lived out most fully in our actions, that is why it is important to be aware of the needs of others and to minister to their needs. That is why ‘Social Awareness’ is such an important aspect of this Award.

Examples of activities in the area of Social Awareness that you could do for your Award are:

• Member of St. Vincent de Paul
• Spread
• Faith and Light
• Working in a youth club
• Ongoing fundraising
• Regular visitation of residential homes
• Faith Friends
• There may be other activities that you are involved in that are not included here but may be relevant, if so please contact the Pope John Paul II Award Committee for approval.

Please click on the various links below for the all forms you need to get started on the Pope John Paul II Award.

Award Handbook – http://thepopejohnpauliiaward.com/downloads/pjp_handbook_tuam.pdf

Application Form  – pjp_application

Bronze Record Card – pjp_rc_bronze

Silver Record Card – pjp_rc_silver

Gold Record Card – pjp_rc_gold

Further information is available on http://www.thepopejohnpauliiaward.com

Contact: Siobhán Bradley for further information on the workings of the Pope John Paul II Award within the Archdiocese of Tuam.

Phone: 087-9271542

Email: youth@tuamarchdiocese.org