Bishop Anthony Fisher from the Parramatta Catholic Diocese was the first speaker in the 2012 Affinity Lecture series on Wednesday 14th of March.

Bishop Anthony’s presentation was titled “Reflections on World Youth Day (WYD) and Challenges for Australian Youth Today”. Talking to a packed room he reminisced on the World Youth Day experience of 2008 when Pope Benedict visited Australia. The Pope addressed many youths who travelled from all around the world to be in his presence and listen to his words of advice. Bishop Anthony vividly recalls Pope Benedict’s call to the youth to “treasure the valuable skills, assets & knowledge they have and use it to leave a lasting legacy for the next generation”. This message was one of the many messages Pope Benedict left with the WYD audience as he asked each one of them to challenge themselves to do good for their community and environment.

Bishop Anthony commented on some of the challenges the youth face today in the form of drug abuse, not showing reverence to their parents/seniors, promiscuity, general misconduct to name a few. To the many youths who seek his advice he has been able to revive within them the awareness of their environment, their existence and their relationship with their Creator. During Q&A he also mentioned the importance of engagement with other members of society to broaden their experience so people could learn from each other and acknowledged Affinity playing a pivotal role in bringing people of diverse backgrounds together. Through these engagements people are able to broaden their perspective and reflect on their own life experience providing a more expansive view on society.

Executive Director Ahmet Keskin thanked Bishop Anthony for his presentation and echoed the call to action of  Pope Benedict to the audience members to leave a positive mark in every person you are in contact with, one that leads them towards goodness and community harmony.