Encuentros de Promoción Juvenil
Encuentros de Promoción Juvenil (Encounters of Youth Promotion) is a Catholic movement of young adults (ages 18-27) who evangelize their peers to accept the Gospel, live their vocation and take on leadership roles in Christian groups in their communities.
EPJ’s educational approach emphasizes human and spiritual development, group work, community prayer, Mass attendance, reflection and the sharing of experiences. EPJ announces and bears witness to Christ by rallying young people around the fundamental values of Christianity and helping them to mature in the faith.
EPJ was founded by Father José Maria Pujadas Ferrer in Medellín, Colombia in 1968. The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity recognized EPJ as an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right in 1996. Today, the program is operating in 14 countries including the United States. An emproista is the name given to a person who has made an EJP weekend. Each year, emproistas celebrate Dec. 9 as International EPJ Day to honor the program’s founder Father Pujadas, who died on Dec. 9, 1984.
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Information about the National EPJ can be found here.
Jornadas
Jornadas started in Mexico in 1961. Founded by the Marist brothers who had the desire to give their students a more complete religious formation. Thus, they created themes, exposed with technique, by which 4 personal stages were discovered in the process: Man, Christian, Holy and Apostle.
In 2003, after several young people saw the need in San Diego County, they went to Chicago to live the retreat, and with the help of Bishop Chavez the first Jornada in San Diego took place.
Currently, 13 retreats have been carried out. The retreats are every year in the summer, for single young adults between the ages of 18 and 35.
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