(OSV News) – “Be open to what the Lord has in store for you,” Pope Leo XIV said in a video address to thousands of youth and young adults attending the SEEK 2026 conference.

The annual gathering — taking place Jan. 1-5 at event locations in Columbus, Ohio, Denver and Fort Worth, Texas — has drawn an estimated 26,000 participants for talks and workshops on encountering Christ, with the schedule including daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and fellowship.

Pope Leo XIV is seen in a screenshot delivering a video message to young Catholics attending at SEEK26 — his latest of several video messages to youth in the U.S. since becoming pope. The annual gathering — taking place Jan. 1-5 at event locations in Columbus, Ohio, Denver and Fort Worth, Texas — has drawn an estimated 26,000 participants for talks and workshops on encountering Christ, with the schedule including daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and fellowship. (OSV News screenshot/Vatican News)

Among the scheduled keynote speakers were Father Mike Schmitz, Matt Fradd, Chris Stefanick, Sister of Life Mary Grace and Sister Josephine Garrett, a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

For 2026, conference organizer FOCUS — an international Catholic outreach ministering on more than 200 college campuses in the U.S., Mexico and Europe, as well as at some 20 parishes — selected the theme “To the Heights,” a favorite exhortation of the recently canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, an avid mountaineer and patron of young adults.

As of midday Jan. 2, FOCUS reported that attendees numbered 16,115 in Columbus, 5,907 in Denver and 4,503 in Fort Worth.

In his pre-recorded video message to the SEEK attendees, which was posted along with a transcript to the Vatican website, Pope Leo appeared to echo St. Frassati’s sentiment, urging SEEK attendees to reflect on the call of the first two disciples of Jesus as detailed in John 1:35-51.

The pope said that Andrew and the other disciple — initially followers of John the Baptist — pursued Jesus, whose first recorded words in John’s Gospel were a question posed to the two: “What do you seek?”

“Jesus asks the disciples this question because he knows their hearts,” said Pope Leo. “They were restless — in a good way. They did not want to settle for the normal routine of life. They were open to God and were longing for meaning.”

And, said the pope, “today, Jesus directs this same question to each one of you.”

Pope Leo noted that conference attendees’ hearts may also be “restless, searching for meaning and fulfillment” as well as for “direction in your lives.”

To such profound questions, said the pope, “The answer is found in a person. The Lord Jesus alone brings us true peace and joy, and fulfills every one of our deepest desires.”

John’s Gospel passage details the process of discovering Christ and developing a life-changing relationship with him, said the pope, noting that the first two disciples replied to Jesus’ question by asking where he was staying.

“They wanted to get to know him personally by spending time with him,” said Pope Leo.

Although “the two disciples were initially with Jesus only for a few hours,” said the pope, “that encounter changed their lives forever.”

Andrew immediately sought out his brother Simon (whom Jesus later renamed Peter), excitedly sharing that he had found the Messiah — “in other words, ‘We have found the one we were looking for!'” said the pope.

Such a response to meeting Christ “is the answer that all of us can give once we too get to know the Lord,” said Pope Leo, adding that the Gospel passage “also therefore speaks to us of what it means to be a missionary. … We desire to share with others what we have received so that they, too, can come to know the fullness of love and truth found only in him.”

As they “draw close to Jesus” during the SEEK 2026 conference, Pope Leo urged attendees, “Do not be afraid to ask him what he is calling you to,” whether that vocation is the priesthood, religious life, or marriage and family life.

“If you sense the Lord calling you, do not be afraid,” said Pope Leo. “Once again, let me emphasize that he alone knows the deepest, perhaps hidden, longings of your heart, and the path that will lead you to true fulfillment. Let him lead and guide you!”

Pointing to the conference start date of Jan. 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Leo entrusted attendees to her maternal intercession.

He concluded his message with a blessing, saying, “I gladly invoke upon all of you and upon your families the divine blessings of this Christmas season.”

 

OBITUARY
REVEREND CONNELL A. MCHUGH

Reverend Connell A. McHugh, Pastor Emeritus of Good Shepherd Church, Drums, and current Sacramental Minister at Holy Rosary Parish, Hazleton, died on January 4, 2026, after having faithfully served the Diocese of Scranton for 54 years.

Rev. Connell A. McHugh was born in Hazleton, the son of Connell and Katherine (Faeley) McHugh. He attended the former St. Gabriel’s School for both his elementary and high school education, graduating in 1964. He began his preparation for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo College in Catonsville, Maryland, which was staffed by the Sulpician Order. He continued his studies at St. Pius X in Dalton, the former Diocesan seminary, in the fall of 1966. It was at St. Pius X that he developed a love of biblical studies, inspired by Fr. Robert Barone, a native of Hazleton and a former student of Fr. Raymond Brown whom Father McHugh regarded as the greatest biblical scholar in the United States of any Christian denomination. Fr. McHugh and classmate Fr. William Karle were largely responsible along with Fr. Devlin of Scranton University to have seminarians receive degrees from Scranton University. Fr. McHugh graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Scranton University in 1969.

In 1969, Fr. McHugh entered Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Selkirk, New York, just outside of Albany.  He was privileged to have excellent Scripture professors including Fr. John O’Grady and visiting biblical scholars such as Fr. Shaun Kiel. Fr. McHugh completed his studies at Our Lady of Angels in 1972, graduating with high honors and earning both a Master of Arts and a Master of Divinity, both in theology.  He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop J. Carroll McCormick on May 13, 1972.

Father McHugh’s summer assignment was at St. Clare’s in Scranton. He then served for a year as assistant Pastor of St. Mary’s, Dunmore and then two years at Nativity of Our Lord in South Scranton. Fr. McHugh also taught in both Diocesan high schools and junior high schools while in the Scranton Area.

In 1975, Father McHugh was assigned as assistant Pastor of St. Francis, West Hazleton, and as catechist at Bishop Hafey High School. He remained as assistant Pastor of St. Francis for nine and a half years and as catechist Bishop Hafey High School for 10 years.

Father McHugh was appointed Pastor of St. Patrick’s, White Haven, in January 1985 and Catholic Chaplain of the White Haven Center. He was named Pastor of St. Francis, West Hazleton, in July 1994, and remained pastor until 2007. He also taught at Bishop Hafey again from 2005-2007. He served briefly at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre and as weekend celebrant for Good Shepherd, Drums, and St. John Bosco, Conyngham. He was appointed Pastor of Good Shepherd in 2012 and served there for over 8 years until his retirement. In retirement, Fr. McHugh became the Sacramental Minister at Holy Rosary Parish Hazleton.

Fr. McHugh was very active in sports, sponsoring many high school boys’ and girls’ basketball teams that competed successfully in the Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazleton areas. His players were drawn from regional high schools. Father also was an avid tennis player locally and at clubs in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Father wrote sports articles for many years for Panorama magazine as was widely recognized as an authority on vintage sports cards, especially baseball ones.

Many people know Fr. McHugh for his decades of biblical presentations in which he attempted to offer a high level of scholarship in the tradition of Fr. Raymond Brown and his good friend and mentor, Fr. Robert Barone.

Viewings will take place on Friday January 9, 2026, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday January 10, 2026, from 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. in Holy Rosary Parish, 240 South Poplar Street, Hazleton. Vespers will be celebrated Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the church.

A Pontifical Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, on Saturday January 10, 2026, at 10 a.m. in Holy Rosary Parish, 240 South Poplar Street, Hazleton.

Arrangements are entrusted to the care of the Joseph B. Conahan Funeral Home, Hazleton.