ORLANDO  |  For 50 years, Steubenville Conferences have offered youth the opportunity to encounter the Lord through dynamic speakers, Eucharistic Adoration and camaraderie.

Orlando youth got to experience the love God has for them firsthand June 19-21, as the conference focused on “being worthy” and reminded them their identity is in Christ.

Leslie R. of St. Mary of the Lakes Parish in Eustis received that message loud and clear. “Steubenville 2026 made me truly open my heart up more to God,” she said in a post. “You might feel like you’re worthless if you sin, but in reality, He’s still there and He’s going to accept you no matter what, just as long as you keep trying and trying to build that relationship with God.”

Leslie’s brother first convinced her to go. That, coupled with her own desire to “build a closer relationship to God,” helped the upcoming junior open her Bible and spend more time reading Scripture and praying.

Lately, she found herself “slacking off.” Paul Kim’s talk on prayer led her to burst into tears. She went home with a deeper understanding and a commitment to speak to God as she starts and ends each day.

Dariel R. just graduated from high school and wanted one last chance to participate.

“The first year was a really fun experience and definitely changed my relationship with God. Just being around so many people who were like-minded, were there for the same purpose, and while still keeping it fun, really did bring me back,” he said.

Dariel shared how the conference highlighted the forgiving nature of God. He said the talks brought him peace knowing, “no matter how many times I mess up, we are human and God can forgive us no matter what.” For him, it was also Kim’s talk on prayer and forgiveness that flipped a switch in his mind.

Kim shared his own prayer life changed after the loss of his son, Micah, Dec. 31, 2025. He spoke of how Micah interceded for many since his passing.

“(Kim) showed me how important prayer, how powerful prayer was to where he was praying for his son, and as a result, his son prayed for everyone else,” Dariel said.

Karina J., also a parishioner of St. Mary of the Lake, returned to the conference for her third time. The recent graduate agreed with her friend, Dariel, testifying to the power of the conference and how sharing it with faithful peers makes a difference.

“It’s fun how a lot of kids can just group up from different parishes and all worship Jesus,” she said.

She first attended as a sophomore. She said she felt Christ’s presence but did not have a personal encounter with Him so she kept coming back. Having grown somewhat distant from Him over the past few months due to depression and disappointment with people she called friends, she felt the conference would help “make things better.”

During Eucharistic Adoration, she reached out and touched the monstrance as it passed by. “I just started bawling my eyes out. I couldn’t stop,” she said. “Then my two friends came and they hugged me and moved me aside.”

Monica Vega, director of religious education at St. Mary of the Lakes, and friends, Anna, Emmanuel and Dariel prayed over her.

“I felt like all the depression, everything that I had done, like everything, just coming out,” she said.

Karina said many peers struggle with worth due to the pressures of social media, false friends or poor grades. This year’s conference reminded her of her worth in God’s eyes.

“I started to know, even if I got a little lost in between, I know that He has more for me.”

St. James Cathedral parishioner and a senior at Bishop Moore High School, William R., went to the conference for the fourth time.

“The experience of going to Adoration, just having Jesus exposed right in front of me as the priest walks around, seeing how passionate all the teens around me are, and having people my age just be super passionate about Jesus is just incredible,” he said. “(While on a faith journey) there are always times where I feel like we need to be reminded of certain truths, and I feel like that’s what this retreat was able to accomplish.”

Asked if he considered a vocation to the priesthood or diaconate, he said he was not ruling it out but considered it “an option on the table.”

Jenny Mansingh is the director of religious education at St. Peter in Deland. She wants all young people to experience the love and mercy of Christ. Since joining the parish in 2018, bringing students to the conference is a priority, even during the challenges of COVID.

“I see them as a powerful evangelistic tool. They give our youth a profound encounter with Christ, the joy of celebrating with hundreds of other young Catholics from our own diocese, and a living witness that the young Church is alive and well,” she said.