High school junior on national faith council

November 13, 2024

By Jennifer Willems, Contributing Writer

Catherine Wilwerding of Des Moines is hoping to bring a sense of Midwest hospitality and spirituality – with a decidedly Iowa flavor – to her work with the National Youth Advisory Council, an initiative of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

She is one of 14 newly appointed members to the 2025 council.

The importance of community and how that can be used to serve others is just one of the strengths she wants to share during her 14-month term, which began in October.

“Our ability to step up and support each other is a really big thing,” Wilwerding said. “We just get behind people and rally together.”

That isn’t unusual, according to Jessica Pancho, who directs Youth Evangelization for the Diocese of Des Moines.

“Catie comes from a family who exudes joy when it comes to their faith. From what I know about her, she strives to always be a voice for those that don’t have a voice and if she experiences something great, she wants others to experience it as well,” Pancho said.

Wilwerding is the daughter of Jim and Gigi Wilwerding. They are members of Holy Trinity Parish in Des Moines, where she is a lector and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and helps with Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

As a junior at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, she helps to coordinate Masses and is active in Ut Fidem, small groups that meet weekly to pray and talk about how to “keep the faith” as they leave high school and move on to college.

The mission of the National Youth Advisory Council is “to give a voice to the faith, hope, and love of youth by building bridges and nurturing safe spaces across generations, cultures, and backgrounds.” This shared model of ministry is designed to empower the youth “to activate their voices and gifts as members of the Church.”

As part of her work with the council, Wilwerding is expected to discern a project that can be implemented on the local level. With the help of mentor Randy Henderson, a faith formation coordinator and director of high school youth ministry at Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart in Ankeny, she wants to develop a retreat experience for high school students.

Nominated for the National Youth Advisory Council by Bishop William Joensen, Wilwerding will also work with the Diocese of Des Moines “by representing the many youth that feel left out and don’t know where to start growing in their faith,” Pancho explained.

“I honestly think that in the future she will still be leading our youth in the Diocese at a higher executive level, whether it’s as director of our Catholic Youth Camp or Director of Youth for our Diocese,” Pancho said.