“Faced by the phenomenon of the loneliness of the young and their tendency to participate in transgressive groups, the Church must ask herself whence comes this sense of loneliness”: said Cardinal Josef Glemp, during the Symposium of European bishops held in Rome from 24 to 28 April. “The young abandon their families, increasingly in crisis, and find growing individualism at school. That explains their search for groups in which they feel welcomed and listened to. As clergy we must undertake an examination of conscience and ask ourselves whether we are able to open ourselves to the problems of young people and are really able to listen to them”. Analyzing the reasons for this situation, the Italian sociologist Mario Pollo said that “we are no longer in the post-modern, but in a period of radical breach with all pasts. The traditional bonds between people are being dissolved, and communities ‘of sentiment’ or ‘of destiny’, such as the no-global groups, are being born. The young feel themselves free and independent but at the same time prisoners of an unchangeable social system. That’s why, from a pastoral point of view, we need to act not only in the ‘micro’ of the personal relationship, but also try to influence the ‘macro’ of society. Cardinal Vinko Pulijc, archbishop of Sarajevo, also emphasized the importance of “listening” to the young, “the only way of constructing real relations and announcing the Gospel”.
