Youth Youth Co-leadership Protagonism Initiative (YCOPI)
NEW YCOPI Cohort begins in 2025
Click here for the recording of our YCOPI Information Zoom. Passcode: N=P+9i7p
All of the details about YCOPI Cohort 2025 can be found on our YCOPI Parish Info Packet 2025. Details include YCOPI deadlines, Initiative Goals and Objectives, Timeline with Phases and Descriptions, Recruiting Guidelines, and Q&A.
If you have any questions, please contact us at phillyOMY@archphila.org or call us at 215.587.3714. You can also explore below.
Our Youth Co-Leadership Protagonism Initiative
What is YCOPI?
YCOPI is an initiative of the OMY following Pope Francis’ visionary text Christus Vivit (2019) where he outlines a bold paradigm for ministry with young people emphasizing two key concepts: protagonism (allowing youth to lean into their Baptismal Call and agency as people of faith capable of effecting positive change in the world) and accompaniment (walking alongside youth in their faith journeys). YCOPI is a direct engagement of this paradigm while aligning with the missionary vision of Archbishop Nelson Pérez.
In collaboration with Goodfaith, YCOPI is designed to institute youth-led parish-wide Youth Mission Initiatives (YMI) rooted in service and justice. Building on the core tenets of Goodfaith’s long-standing research and proven program model in service and social justice, YCOPI provides youth delegates and their accompanying adult with the orientation, training, content, and knowledge needed for long-term ministry sustainability in the areas of service and social justice.
- Year 1 focuses on Discovery and Formation. Through a discernment process and in collaboration with their accompanying adults, youth delegates discover how the Spirit is calling them to serve their communities. They also receive training through peer learning cohorts using the “Pathways” corresponding curriculum and in skill sets that facilitate the design and development of their YMIs while continuing to equip adults on youth accompaniment.
Take a look inside part of the formation year of the first YCOPI Cohort of 2023:
- Year 2 focuses on the accompaniment of youth delegates and their accompanying adults as they implement their YMIs in their communities.
YCOPI’s two-year cycle places a particular emphasis on cultivating participants’ understanding of the Eucharist as “the source and summit” of their Christian call to change the world.
What are the results of YCOPI?
- Parishes are strengthened because of empowering youth delegates to create youth-led parish/community missions and intergenerational engagement in these YMIs.
- Parishes produce young leaders of faith, who see themselves as agents of change.
- Young people in parishes identify their faith as motivation for the work they do, and the work they do as informing/nourishing their faith.
In their own words (youth and adults)
We are confident this initiative will be a transformative experience not only for its participants but their parish communities and the church of Philadelphia!