Juventutem (Latin: ''Fœderatio Internationalis Juventutem'') is an international movement of young Roman Catholics of the ages 18 to 39 who are devoted to the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

. The aim of the society is to foster and strengthen relationships between these young people at the national and international levels, and to encourage and assist them in developing their faith.

Origin of name

The word ''juventutem'' is a

declension In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence, by way of some inflection. Declensions may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and ...

of the

Ecclesiastical Latin Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late Antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration down to the present day, especially in the Ca ...

'' juventus'', meaning "youth", and is taken from Psalm 42(43):4, as used in the opening prayers of the Traditional Mass, which the priest and altar server recite at the foot of the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

: ''Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.'' ("I will go in to the altar of God; to God who gives joy to my youth.") In the Catholic understanding, the term ''juventutem'' refers to the spiritual youth that comes from the

grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Development

Juventutem was established in April 2004 (and first given its name in May 2004) with the intention of having a delegation present at the international

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

in 2005 and in subsequent years. The first Juventutem meeting was in 2005 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and was the first official delegation to any

. More than 1,000 young people from more than 20 countries attended

World Youth Day 2005 XX World Youth Day (german: XX. Weltjugendtag) was a Catholic youth festival that started on 16 August and continued until 21 August 2005 in Cologne, Germany, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first World Youth Day held in 1985. It was t ...

with Juventutem. Two

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

and eight bishops participated in parts or all of the two-week meeting, as well as many priests,

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

and

seminarian A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

s from several countries. Juventutem groups have participated in each of the subsequent World Youth Day festivals:

World Youth Day 2008 World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was deci ...

(Sydney, Australia),

World Youth Day 2011 World Youth Day 2011 ( es, Jornada Mundial de la Juventud 2011) was the 2011 occurrence of World Youth Day, a Catholic event held from 16–21 August 2011 in Madrid, Spain focused on youth. Media estimated the event's attendance as over a millio ...

(Madrid, Spain),

World Youth Day 2013 World Youth Day 2013 ( pt, Jornada Mundial da Juventude de 2013), stylized WYDRio2013, was the 14th international World Youth Day, an international Catholic event focused on religious faith and youth. The host city of World Youth Day 2013 was ...

(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and World Youth Day 2016 (Kraków, Poland). Juventutem participated in World World Youth Day 2019 in Panama City, Panama where they held the first

Solemn Pontifical Mass A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word "pontifical" is almost exclusively associated with the pope, an ...

in the country since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Archbishop

Alexander King Sample Alexander King Sample (born November 7, 1960) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon since 2013. Sample previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Marque ...

presided over this liturgy.

Fœderatio Internationalis Juventutem

An umbrella organization, the Fœderatio Internationalis Juventutem (F.I.J.) was founded on 24 May 2006. Early in its existence, the FIJ numbered more than fifteen nation-based groups, including ones in the United States, UK, Ireland, Australia, France, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Lithuania, Scotland, England, The Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Kenya, Hong Kong, and Hungary. Members of the international Juventutem federation focus on the daily sanctification of youth according to the traditions of the Catholic Church. Attending World Youth Days is one of the possible means provided in order to reach that goal. As a consequence, those who are unable to attend World Youth Days (for various reasons) can join or start a local group within the international Juventutem federation — one such group is Young Catholic Adults (YCA), which was established in 2004 in the UK.

References

External links

Fœderatio Internationalis Juventutem
{{Traditionalist Catholicism Catholic youth organizations Traditionalist Catholicism Christian organizations established in 2006 Child-related organisations in Switzerland Communities using the Tridentine Mass