By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic
FRISCO — On Valentine’s Day weekend, more than 1,500 teens from parishes across the Diocese of Dallas filled the Frisco Convention Center for the annual Dallas Catholic Youth Conference — a three-day gathering centered on faith and community and designed to help young people encounter Christ and one another.
With the holiday as a backdrop, Josh Salinas, director of the Diocese of Dallas office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries, said the weekend’s focus was ultimately simple:
“Love is the heart of it,” Salinas said, adding, “We’re made to encounter God’s love in heaven — ‘The Infinite.’”
The Dallas Catholic Youth Conference, which this year had a theme of “The Infinite,” serves as a diocesan-wide evangelization opportunity that brings young people together beyond their home parishes. The annual conference was held Feb. 13-15 and drew its largest participation to date, with 53 of the diocese’s 77 parishes represented.
Salinas said the conference is designed to help youth not only encounter Christ but also recognize their role in the Church’s mission and see how their gifts can be used in both parish life and the broader Catholic community.
“My hope is that the youth who attend DCYC leave with the understanding that Jesus loves them, God loves them,” he said. “I hope our youth leave knowing that they are pivotal to the mission of the Church.”
Salinas pointed to shared worship, youth leadership opportunities, and exposure to religious vocations at DCYC as key elements that help strengthen a sense of Catholic community across the diocese.
“DCYC is an opportunity to really highlight the different cultures in our diocese but also to revitalize our youth,” he said. “I think the engagement that we have with our youth as a whole is really empowering them.”
Salinas said encounters with priests, religious sisters, and others in ministry give youth an opportunity to discern whether God may be calling them to religious life or another form of service.
This year’s event emphasized God’s love, highlighted through the sacraments and the witness of the saints, which Salinas described as central to what organizers hope young people take away from the weekend.
“It’s opening the door for the openness of God’s calling in their lives. God loves us all,” he said, adding that this love is encountered through reconciliation, the Eucharist, and daily faith-filled living, which youth are called to practice beyond the conference.
Peter J. Ductrám, senior director of the diocesan office of Ministries, praised the work of the diocesan office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries, saying, “I am proud of their ministerial commitment and ability to create new spaces for intentional encounters with our Lord, Jesus Christ, within this Church.”
He also expressed gratitude to pastors and youth ministers for their support and participation, adding, “We also are truly grateful for Bishop Burns’ ongoing support and vision for youth ministry.”
Faith, unity, and love
Father Thomas Nguyen, CSsR, a Vietnamese Redemptorist priest serving at Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ Vietnamese Parish in Carrollton, said he attended the conference for the second year with teens from his parish after witnessing its impact last year, which motivated him to return with a larger group.
“Last year, we had only eight people, but this year we tripled that number with 25 people attending,” Father Nguyen said. “It’s been an amazing experience.”
The priest said he believed the conference offered a unifying spiritual experience for both youth and adults, especially at a time when the nation seems divided.
“You look at the political divide we’re going through — all the fear and all the hatred — but when you come in here, all of that goes away,” Father Nguyen said. “It makes you realize that we are truly brothers and sisters. What’s happening out there is a lie. The truth is that we are united in Christ, and we can choose to love one another in Christ.”
For Luke Patterson, a 17-year-old parishioner of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Parish in Plano, DCYC provided “a rare opportunity to step away from daily distractions” and focus on faith.
“It’s complete time with God without the distractions of the real world,” said Patterson, who is a member of DCYC’s Zebedee team, a teen leadership group that helps facilitate a positive experience for those in attendance.
Patterson, who this year attended his fourth conference, recalled a formative experience during adoration and confession his sophomore year that he described as a turning point in his faith, helping him recognize a deeper relationship with God.
“It felt like there was this hug … I was sitting there in line for confession. Dave Moore was playing ‘Lord, I need you,’ and I’m like, ‘This is what I need. I’m lost, and he has the way. Lord, I do need you,’” Patterson said. “I was at the verge of tears. I was like, ‘Man is made for God. We are made to be with him, because he made us.’ … ‘This is real. God wants me. Let me reach out.’”
Monserrat Aguilar, 17, a parishioner of St. Jude Catholic Parish in Allen, said she attended the 2026 Dallas Catholic Youth Conference after being encouraged by her parish youth group leader to serve as a Zebedee leader. Aguilar said DCYC was an experience that drew her interest because of its emphasis on service, faith-sharing, and community.
“It really drew me closer to other people that are in relationship with Jesus, and it made me have more confidence and feel less alone in the faith,” she said. “It’s such a community, and I’m so grateful to attend and learn more about God.”
Jasper Holmes, 17, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Parish in Rockwall, said DCYC has become a recurring source of spiritual renewal for him over three years of attendance. Holmes said he first attended as a participant with his parents, then became more involved after being encouraged by his parish youth director to serve in a leadership role with Zebedee.
“It’s just a rejuvenation of your spiritual life,” Holmes said of the conference, adding that teens get inspired at DCYC to “go out and share their faith” in their everyday lives.
Natalia Barela, a parishioner and ministry leader at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Parish in Plano who also serves as an adult leader for DCYC’s Zebedee team, said the annual conference is an opportunity for young people to encounter the Lord in a quieter, more intentional way amid an often noisy world.
“I think that our world is so loud sometimes … and it’s important to have a place where they can come and just focus on the Lord,” Barela said. “It’s a big, wonderful opportunity for teens to reset their lives and to re-center God in their lives.”
Oscar Bahena, a ministry leader and parishioner of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Dallas, has attended DCYC since 2013, including as a teen participant, teen leadership member, and now as a Zebedee adult leader. He said this year’s record attendance reflects the growth of youth ministry in the Diocese of Dallas, not just in numbers but in diversity as well.
“You see that there’s more than just your parish,” Bahena said. “There’s a little bit of everything, which is what our faith really is … The Catholic Church is universal, and this is the best place to see it — to see the youth as a part of that universal Church.”
Cutline for featured image: Teens attending the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference raise their hands and dance during praise and worship at the conference, held Feb. 13-15 at the Frisco Convention Center in Frisco. (Diocese of Dallas office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries photo)
