Organisers of a major conference in Durham this autumn hope it will lead to the establishment of regional teams to help promote the Catholic faith.  

The Young Catholic Adult Network (YouCAN) – which helps bring together young Catholics aged between 18 and 35 – has put together the programme in partnership with the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University, and with support from the National Vocations Office.

Those attending “On Fire!” will learn about God’s call to evangelise and practical lessons to put it into practice – as well as the problems that can be faced.

With the assistance of trainers from Catholic Voices, which seeks to improve the representation of the Church in the media, they will also learn how to defend themselves against criticism of the faith.

“The need for evangelisation has never been so urgent,” said YouCAN’s Rina Bird.

“Recognising this, speakers from the Benedictine and Dominican orders, CAFOD, the St Vincent de Paul Society, Aid to the Church in Need, Catholic Voices have kindly given their time to enable this conference to take place at cost price only. 

“We hope that among the many tangible benefits of the conference will be the establishment of regional evangelisation teams.”

On Fire! is not age-restricted, and any Catholics over the age of 18 are welcome to attend. It takes place at Durham University from Friday September 9 to Sunday September 11.

For more details, or to book, visit dur.ac.uk/conference.booking/details/?id=1818. To find out more about YouCAN, search for youngcatholicadultnetworkuk on Instagram or visit youngcatholicadultnetwork.uk.