By Jay Sorgi • Posted November 13, 2026

If the size of the throng of pilgrims at “The Well” conference in Center City Philadelphia last Saturday, Nov. 7 is any indication, the Catholic Church in Philadelphia has plenty of reason for hope.

More than 500 young adult Catholics connected with one another and were inspired to live their faith with courage at the conference that included Mass and devotions at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul plus talks and a meal at the Sheraton Hotel Downtown.

The annual event was sponsored by the archdiocesan Office for Ministry with Young Adults (OMYA).

OMYA Director Andrea Hall shared how the experience at The Well fuels these young adults to live the  theme for the 2026 event, “Courage,” which is the same theme Pope Leo XIV is using for World Youth Day 2027.

>>> RELATED – See Scenes from The Well Young Adult Conference

“There’s something so powerful about bringing more than 500 young adults together in one room and coming together in worship for eucharistic adoration,” Hall said, “but also these powerful keynote talks in which young adults don’t have to question whether or not they’re alone on their faith journey, but they can see that they’re being accompanied in a faith community in the Catholic Church of Philadelphia.

“That is a real witness to hope that we have in our Church today,” she said, adding that young adults feel they “don’t have to do this faith thing alone.”

Pilgrims from the five-county Philadelphia area, and from as far away as Denver and the Caribbean islands, came to Center City for different reasons.

Rachel Prado traveled from Holland, Bucks County where her young adult group at St. Bede the Venerable Parish is also called “The Well.” A new mom who is encountering all that motherhood involves, she said she felt the realization that she needs greater help from God.

“I love the word courage. It gives me strength knowing that I’m one of God’s children,” she said. “It gives me the strength to get through the struggles of parenthood.”

Yolanda Casanova traveled from Puerto Rico for the conference, with impetus from her Philadelphia-based godmother. She saw this day as an eye-opener to the kind of Catholic youth movement that isn’t as present where she lives, strengthening her own courage.

“This is more modern than what I’m used to, and it’s a good spin on what Catholicism is. The Church is old, but it doesn’t have to function like it’s old,” she said.

“Seeing young people believing in what I believe in, it’s refreshing. It makes me feel like this is the place I belong in, and reaffirms what I was taught.”

Father Stephen DeLacy, archdiocesan vicar of the Office for Faith Formation with Youth and Young Adults, sees The Well and similar young adult events as a way to infuse courage through community in a world where young people continue to face growing isolation.

“The Church is clearly a home and we’re a refuge for them to be safe, for them to be loved and for them to encounter God in such a way that they have freedom and healing,” he said. “They discover Christ, they find community, they find that they’re not alone, and then they’re able to live out the faith in such a way that gives them joy and freedom.”

The day included a bilingual prayer service at the beginning, a bilingual period of eucharistic adoration and the sacrament of reconciliation in the middle, and the anticipated Sunday Mass celebrated by Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez.

Sandwiched in between, pilgrims enjoyed a meal with cheesesteaks and three keynote talks in different languages.

The first talk, “Belonging in Christ,” was offered in English with therapist and Catholic speaker Dr. Matthew Breuninger, and in Spanish with Joshua Diaz, a Catholic speaker and musician.

“Dr. Breuninger had a lot of insight on developmental psychology. How you’re raised allows you to feel belonging, and from that belonging is where you receive the courage to share the Gospel and to live like a saint,” said Prado.

The second talk focused on “Nourishment in Christ” from Kansas-based Catholic speaker Sarah Swofford in English and Dominican Father Raphael Arteaga in Spanish.

A good portion of Swofford’s talk involved the story of a man Jesus healed near a pool on the Sabbath, someone whom the Lord directly asked to grow in courage by asking, “Do you want to be well?”

Swofford recalled a conversation with a counselor about that story.

“The excuse that I make (is), ‘I’m OK. I would rather you heal my brother who suffers from mental health, my mom, my friend who has cancer,’ (but) I was in counseling one day and he said, ‘Do you think that like the Lord really needs to choose between you and your brother? Or do you think he can heal you both?’” she recalled.

Jesus, she believes, would say, “But you only need me.’ I feel like that’s what He came to tell you,” Swofford said.

During the third and final talk before Mass, Dominican Father Gregory Pine spoke about “Serving Christ with Courage” along with live acoustic praise and worship music by Diaz.

“The Lord will prompt you, the Lord will guide you, and the Lord will encourage you in that effort,” Father Pine said. “But He is not saying, I want you to be somebody other than you are. He is saying, ‘I want you to be you. But I want to heal you. I want to grow you. I want to inspire you. I want to embolden you. And I want to use you (so) that you might not be simply a recipient of my grace, but a giver thereof.”

Hundreds of young Catholics then crossed 17th Street to join Archbishop Pérez, Auxiliary Bishop Christopher R. Cooke, and nearly a dozen celebrants with a praise-filled bilingual Mass that capped the evening.

“Serving Christ with courage. Today it takes courage, because the world around us (is) searching. People are lonely,” Archbishop Pérez said during his homily.

“It takes a lot of courage in today’s world to be a witness to Christ, but He gives us the courage.”