Youth, Synodality, and Social Justice: Highlights from the Vietnam Moving School 2025

From June 16 to 21, 2025, the Asian Lay Leaders Forum (ALL Forum), in collaboration with Youth in Faith Vietnam (YIFV), successfully organized the third Moving School in Vietnam at the Benjamin Retreat House in Ho Chi Minh City. This year’s program focused on the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis’s social teachings, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), drawing a remarkable response from Vietnamese Catholic youth.

Although the event was originally limited to 40 participants, more than 70 young people applied. After a careful selection process, 45 dedicated young adults—students and professionals from southern, central, and northern Vietnam—joined the program. This overwhelming interest reflects a growing desire among youth to understand the Church’s role in addressing social, economic, and environmental issues.

The program included lectures, group discussions, and field visits, providing participants with both theoretical knowledge and real-life experiences. Key themes included Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes, Evangelii Gaudium, Laudato Si’, and the 2023–2024 Synod from a lay perspective.

Sister Linh Giang of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who co-organized the event, emphasized that this kind of formation is rare in Vietnam, where Church activities are often liturgy-centered. She also noted that the program’s popularity may have been influenced by positive feedback from last year’s Mobile School and social media outreach.

ALL Forum were encouraged by the participants’ enthusiasm and commitment. Their reflections showed deep engagement with Pope Francis’s message, especially the call to walk with the poor and recognize that “everything is connected.” We believe that such programs are crucial in forming socially aware and spiritually grounded lay leaders for the Church in Asia.