“We’ll contribute to the building of a more human and Christian ‘common European home'”: that is the promise made by the 35 young delegates of the European Episcopal Conferences to their own bishops, at the end of the 10th Symposium of the European bishops held in Rome from 24 to 28 April, and promoted by the CCEE (Council of the European Episcopal Conferences). The young delegates recognized and appreciated the Symposium as “a valuable opportunity for overcoming any possible distance that seemed to us to have developed between us and you”. And at the end of the experience they make some promises to the bishops: they promise “that we will not hesitate to reply ‘ yes’ to God who calls us to rediscover the Christian roots of Europe in our daily life; that we wish to continue the dialogue with you in order to place it at the service of our dioceses and communities; and to bear witness to the experience of communion we have shared during these few days to all those we will meet”. But to the bishops the young also confide some needs: “the need to regularly meet you to share the joys and the difficulties, and to walk together in our experience of the Christian life; the need for greater opportunities of Christian formation and education so that we can also share more responsibilities in our communities; the need for you to encourage us to live our vocation and responsibility in the economic, political and social fields in the contexts in which we live; the wish to live with you in the same spirit that animated the first Christian communities; the desire to conform our life to the newness of the Gospel in reference to the heritage of the Sacred Tradition of the Church; and the desire to have occasions for meeting each other (conferences, synods, symposia….) to be able to continue the journey made at this Symposium”. Moreover, the young have begun to draft a document which they will share with their respective communities and present to the plenary session of the CCEE in October.
