For the twenty-fifth time, young people from the presences of the Province of Poland gathered in Kraków, together with an invited group from the Province of Hungary. The Piarist Youth Meeting, known in Polish as “SMP”, took place from 10 to 12 October 2025 and was once again a highly significant annual event for the Piarist community. More than 400 teenagers took part, coming from Poland (Bolesławiec, Bolszewo, Elbląg, Łowicz, Katowice, Poznań, the communities of Rzeszów and Sierosławice, and the Kraków presences: the parish of Rakowice, the Akacjowa secondary school, and the juniors accompanied by Kisito Flavi from Vienna), from Ukraine (Zolochiv), from the Czech Republic (Strážnice) and from Hungary (Kecskemét, Mosonmagyaróvár, Nagykanizsa, Szeged, Vác and Budapest). They all gathered under the motto “Your Roots”, which invited a return to the origins and to the founding spirit of the meeting.
The event began with a welcome and the presentation of the groups, following the programme carefully prepared by Sebastian Romaniak. Each group performed a song, in keeping with the tradition of the meeting—a small festival that forms the heart of every edition and gives participants the chance to present themselves through a song inspired by the year’s motto.
The opening day concluded with a talk by Fr Tomasz Abramowicz, organiser of the “SMP” for many years. His reflection introduced the “confession zone”, a quiet time of prayer with the possibility of receiving the sacrament of reconciliation. Each group, at its own pace, ended the day with a community spiritual activity called “the day’s harvest”: a sharing space guided by questions about the most meaningful moments, the feelings and emotions experienced, the words and gestures of God and of others that touched the heart, and the personal calls discovered. This dynamic was introduced in Poland by Łukasz Fabijański, a Piarist junior who a year ago undertook a pastoral experience in the Province of Argentina.
The second day, Saturday, began with a talk given by Fr Jacek Bernacik, a diocesan priest and head of pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Kraków, linked to the Light-Life Movement (known in Poland as “Oasis”). His address developed the meeting’s central theme: “Your Roots”. Afterwards, testimonies of Christian life were presented by participants from previous editions: Fr Łukasz Wójcik, a Salesian priest and former pupil of the Piarist school in Kraków; and Anna and Krzysztof Lezner, together with their children Helenka, Franek and Józio, parishioners of the parish of Bolszewo. This block was presented by Fr Rafał Stenka, and more than twenty leaders coordinated the small, mixed groups for reflection and dialogue that followed.
