“Loss of values, depersonalization of individuals, superficiality, hedonism, escape from everything that means sacrifice, generosity, responsibility, suffering”: that’s how a youth group in the diocese of Istanbul sums up the “moral decadence” of society, a phenomenon of which “the majority of youngsters are not conscious”. “We young people of Turkey the reflection continues think that today the Church has the mission of raising the awareness of the Christian people, arousing their conscience and encouraging them, particularly the young”. And this awareness-raising must “spring from the witness and the coherence of life of those who proclaim it”. The deepening of conscience can only take place “through the interiorization and deepening of one’s own spiritual life, through prayer and dialogue with the God who is the root of our existence”. But “also our action must reflect externally what we believe and experience inside us: in other words, a greater coherence between faith and conduct, between what we believe and what we do, is needed”. The means of achieving this end include: “co-responsibility of the laity in projects, both at the level of external activities and in the institutions within the Church”; capacity for self-criticism; recovery of the spiritual dimension; increased solidarity towards the poor and the disadvantaged. The young, in particular, are called to bear witness to their own faith through the Word; through concrete example; through prayer for each other; involvement “in volunteer service, in pastoral action, in catechesis”; collaboration “with the ecclesiastical hierarchy at every level”; and a presence “in society, culture, the universities, the media and the world of work”.
