Speakers at Chosen 2026
Voices carrying the Word at Chosen.
Chosen 2026 brings together bishops, priests, religious and lay missionaries who meet young Australians where they are. They don't dodge the hard questions. They teach with clarity. They keep pointing back to Christ.
More names drop in the lead-up to November. A few of them are below.
Dr. Mark Kwaku Nimo, D.Min.
Director of Faith Formation, Archdiocese of Chicago.
Originally from Ghana in West Africa. Mark serves as Director of Faith Formation at St. Moses the Black Church and Augustus Tolton Catholic Academy in the Archdiocese of Chicago. He and his wife Mercy have three daughters.
Mark earned a Masters in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union in 2006 and an Ecumenical Doctor of Ministry in 2012. For ten years he served as the representative for all Anglophone African countries on the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS) office in the Vatican.
Through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Mark has ministered in over forty countries on every continent. He completed his discipleship training school with the International Catholic Programme of Evangelization in Malta in 1990, then spent two years as a lay missionary in Uganda — running discipleship training at the Emmaus Center in Luwero and serving people living with HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Dony Peter Chacko
Leadership Coach and Learning Evangelist.
Based in Melbourne, Dony is a layman in the Australian Catholic community and a familiar voice in Jesus Youth. He last took the Chosen stage in 2019 — the final gathering before the pandemic years — and returns now as one of the conference's homegrown speakers.
Dony holds a doctorate in transformational leadership and works at AP Psychology and Consulting Services in Melbourne. For fifteen years he has coached individuals and organisations on five continents — his work has taken him to more than twenty-five countries — and the through-line has always been the same: helping each person become who they were made to be.
Fr. Bony Abraham
Parish Priest, Provisional Psychologist, and National Teens Chaplain.
Fr. Bony Abraham is a Catholic priest serving in the Diocese of Toowoomba, currently as Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Anthony's Parish, Toowoomba. Ordained with the Missionaries of God's Love, Fr. Bony brings over two decades of passionate commitment to youth ministry, having been part of Jesus Youth Australia since his high school years in India.
Fr. Bony holds a Master of Professional Psychology from La Trobe University and is a Provisional Psychologist registered with AHPRA, currently working with Headspace, Warwick. His unique formation at the intersection of Catholic priesthood and developmental psychology gives him a rare ability to speak into the real struggles of young people — from identity and purpose to mental health and spiritual hunger.
As National Chaplain of the Jesus Youth Australia Teens Team, Fr. Bony has spent 22 years walking alongside young people, helping them encounter the living God and discover their call. He is a passionate preacher and evangelist whose ministry centres on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Alex Vickers OP
Dominican Friar, Preacher, and International Animator for Jesus Youth.
Fr. Alex Vickers is a Dominican friar and Catholic priest with over 40 years of priestly ministry, and a deeply beloved friend of the Jesus Youth movement worldwide. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, he was formed in the faith from an early age at St Dominic's School, and was ordained into the Order of Preachers on 24 August 1985.
The Dominican charism of prayer, study, and community has been at the heart of Fr. Alex's life and ministry ever since. Having served across New Zealand and Australia — including in Adelaide and Brisbane — he is currently parish priest at Our Lady of Graces in Carina, Queensland.
Fr. Alex served as Chaplain for Jesus Youth Australia for seven years, walking closely with young people in their faith journey. He now serves as the International Animator for Jesus Youth International, accompanying and inspiring the movement on a global scale.
He is a passionate and engaging preacher, particularly known for his reflections on what it really means to pray — moving beyond "saying prayers" to entering into a genuine, living conversation with God.
John 1:46
Come and See
Philip's whole pitch to Nathanael was three words. Ours is the same.
