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JMJ Media Features

WYD in Videos

Past WYD Photos

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Our Beginning

​Our founder, Steve Kerekes, began with a tremendous desire to evangelize his students through pilgrimages to Europe and World Youth Day. What started in his own classroom has now grown into an organization that has helped thousands of young Catholics to grow and shape their faith on pilgrimages around the world.​

​Our Mission

​JMJyouth shares a common mission with youth ministers around the world: to evangelize, catechize, and change lives. We create opportunities for young people to open their hearts to the Grace of God on pilgrimages.

​​Our Philosophy

Our philosophy is simple: teach teens and young adults how to grow closer to God by removing the clutter of life and making room for Grace. Our pilgrims are accompanied by  guides who are energetic, faithful, living witnesses of the Catholic faith. We travel close to the ground, encountering the history and culture of each destination we visit.

​Our Experience

​We have over 25 years of pilgrimage experience that includes 10 World Youth Days and innumerable group pilgrimages to holy sites all over the globe. More than 10,000 pilgrims from 11 countries have trusted JMJyouth with their pilgrimage experiences.

​Our Guides

​Groups that choose to travel with JMJ Youth are those who want to experience an authentic, Catholic youth pilgrimage supported by Pilgrimage Guides who are knowledgeable, faithful, and fun. We specially select Pilgrimage Guides that seek to inspire greatness while being exceptional role-models of faith and life.

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The team that makes it happen

​Founder/ CEO

Steve Kerekes

A Catholic, husband and father of nine children as well as the founder of JMJYouth Pilgrimages and WorldYouthDay.com. After a dramatic conversion on a pilgrimage at the age of 18, Steve began a journey of discovering his Catholic Faith. He attended World Youth Day in Denver where he met his future wife. Together they traveled to the WYD in Manila and later, as a charter teacher as St. Joseph Academy in San Marcos, Steve took his students to the WYDs in Paris and Rome. Since founding JMJ Youth Pilgrimages, he has taken many thousands of young pilgrims to the WYDs around the world. His global work with the youth gives him a unique perspective on the state of the Church and the movement of the Holy Spirit in the youth.

Group Support Manager

Jenna Coughlin
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Jenna has worked as the Group Support Manager for JMJ Youth Pilgrimages since 2017 after spending over ten years in youth, young adult, women's, family, and school campus ministry on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Her World Youth Day experience started in 2002 in Toronto with Pope St. John Paul II.

She is originally from Clearwater, Florida and has lived in San Diego, California since 2016, and moved back to the East Coast in 2023. If she isn't actively traveling, she is probably planning something in the near future.

​Head of Operations

Denise Barajas

Denise has been involved with youth ministry her whole life, be it when she was a teen herself or helping since then. She was a guide with JMJ for the WYD in Poland and Panama.

She graduated from Franciscan University with a degree in international business and theology. She has spent her time serving different businesses in operations and is now happy to be a part of the team with JMJ. She loves visiting new places and visiting Holy places that makes our faith come alive!

Click here to get in touch with us

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