“Opposition to authority, the assumption of models of conduct disseminated by subcultures, moral relativism, antagonism to the institution of marriage and to its moral law, the search for strong sensations (drugs, alcohol), the search for religious experiences outside the Church, and the lack of capacity for moral and psychological reaction”: these are, in the view of the Polish youth apostolate, the challenges – defined as “serious” – that the youth world poses to the Church today. A certain weakening of the “natural environment” for education in the faith, i.e. the family, poses serious problems also for catechesis, which must pass from the “transmission of intellectual contents” to a “real initiation in the life of prayer and in the liturgy”. An important role is also played by the parishes, associations and movements, but the fact remains that young people risk “losing their sense of the sacred” and having an inadequate understanding of the Church, “which is identified solely with the hierarchy”. Positive signs are however represented – according to the Polish Episcopal Conference – by a certain rediscovery by the young of the liturgy, of community prayer meetings and especially a revived interest in Holy Scripture. “The diffusion of information on good youth communities with a deep religious sense – notes the Episcopal Conference – and an encouragement to follow their example” may represent suitable ways of attracting young people back to the Church. Among possible future options the Polish bishops indicate a development of “individual and group apostolate”, the “evangelization of cultures”, the involvement of the young in ecclesial assistance to the sick, the poor, the unemployed, persons affected by social pathologies and young people who feel lost. Bishops too, and not only priests, are called to place themselves more at the disposal of the young and increase their contacts with them.
