This past June, five women from the Diocese of Allentown traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in one of the largest gatherings of young Catholic women in the country.
The GIVEN Institute hosted its Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum June 24-28 at The Catholic University of America, drawing participants, volunteers, religious sisters, and lay leaders from across the nation for five days of formation, prayer, and mentorship.
Representing the Diocese were: Shea Elliot, a theology teacher at Notre Dame High School, Easton; Gina Galassi, Theology Department Chair and incoming Co-Campus Minister at Notre Dame; Ana Hidalgo, the Bishop’s Delegate to the Hispanic Community; Leslie Pellosie, Human Resources Administrator at Mother of Hope Hybrid Academy, Bethlehem; and Adamary Rodríguez, Administrative-Pastoral Assistant for the Office of Hispanic Affairs.
The forum builds its programming around three pillars: that women receive the gift they are, realize the gifts they have been given, and respond with the gift that only they can give.
This year’s keynote speakers included Sister Bethany Madonna, S.V., and Scripture scholar Dr. Mary Healy, alongside leadership panels featuring GIVEN alumnae and a talk from Montse Alvarado, President and COO of EWTN News, on living out faith through leadership.
The gathering also presented its Fiat Award to Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, S.V., honoring her lifetime of service, and wove daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, prayer, and Confession throughout the professional formation.
This year’s trip was Galassi’s third time attending GIVEN. She first attended as a participant in 2022 and has twice returned as a volunteer. This year, she brought along four friends from the Diocese.
“It’s so beautiful to see so many different women from different places and different states of life,” she said. “There are so many religious present and consecrated women, married women, and [also some] married women who brought their babies along with them.”
She called the experience “such a beautiful gift,” describing the chance to see so many women of “our universal Church” gathered in one place as “really empowering.”
The women create action plans as part of their forum experience. Galassi’s 2022 action plan resulted in the publication of a book that she wrote alongside several seminarians who have since beeen ordained priests in the Diocese of Allentown. The book, which was only available for a limited time, was published by the Catholic ministry, “Behold Visio Divina.” It paired Scripture with sacred art to help readers find inspiration in sacred imagery as they pray.
Rodríguez, attending for the first time this year, said she went in without knowing quite what to expect. “I really went with an open heart,” she said, “and what I received, I don’t think I can put into words.”
She described the forum’s teaching on the “feminine genius” and its reflections on Genesis as reframing familiar truths of the faith in ways that felt new to her. She named Healy’s talk on womanhood and Our Lady’s role in salvation history as a highlight, alongside the shared time in prayer and Adoration with other women of faith.
“It’s definitely worth the time and the investment to go,” she said. “I think it’s something young women should definitely experience.”
Rodríguez’s action plan, still taking shape, will center on her work in Hispanic ministry, helping young people in the Hispanic community encounter the “treasure” of the faith more personally.
Catholic women ages 21-35 interested in applying to a future GIVEN forum can watch the GIVEN Institute’s website for the next application cycle, which typically opens in the fall. Applicants are asked to come with an initial idea for their own action plan. Women ages 36 and older can also apply to serve as mentors or volunteers.
As Galassi put it, the forum and subsequent Mentoring Program help young adult Catholic women realize the spiritual gifts they’ve been given, and in return, these women give those gifts back to their parishes and communities.
For more information, go to www.giveninstitute.com/.
Header photo from GIVEN on Facebook. Galassi is pictured second from the right.
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