At the beginning of October 2019 the Dominican Youth Movement hold a national conference in Johannesburg in South Africa.

The conference was named the First National Assembly for South Africa’s Dominican Youth Movement. Though adopted from the international Dominican Movement, it was the first of its nature on South African soil, since the Dominican Order set their foot in the country.

Those who attended the Assembly were young people who are interested in living Dominican spirituality, yet not necessarily intending to join Religious Life.

The conference mainly focused on orientating the attendees on the following aspects of Dominican Spirituality and social issues affecting the youth in the world of today: Dominican pillars, healthy relationships, team building and social ills affecting the youth.

Among five Dominican Congregations in the country, those who attended the assembly were mainly the affiliates of the following Dominican Order’s Congregations; Cobra Dominicans, King Dominicans and Montebello Dominicans.

Then attendees of the conference were mainly from the two coastal provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, which are the strong hold for vocations for most of Dominican Order’s Congregations in South Africa. 

The assembly took place Geluksdal, Johannesburg, from 4-6 October 2019

The facilitators of the conference were Religious Sisters from respective Dominican Order’s Congregations in South Africa.

The Dominican Youth Movement has an international structures, which operates in the countries where the Dominican Order is found. It is one of the channels of introducing young people into Dominican Spirituality, promoting vocations and recruitment of Lay Dominicans.

Dominican Oder is mostly found in many parts of the world, while in Africa it has a strong hold in Central Africa and Southern Africa, in the countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.

By Sr Antonia Mdabe OP, from Montebello Dominicans