A water that unites” “

A European and Mediterranean “Agorà”: a space in which to satisfy the needs of the young to meet each other. It’s the “Agorà of Mediterranean youth”, a project promoted by the national Service of youth apostolate of the Italian Episcopal Conference in collaboration with the John Paul II Centre in Loreto, where the meeting has been taking place in recent days (8/13 September). Now in its third year, the meeting is dedicated this year to the theme “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”. The 84 young participants, who come from 22 countries facing onto the Mediterranean, chose Loreto to recount their “sufferings and consolations” and express “what they hope from the new Europe”. Here are some of their voices. The sufferings of youth. “In our country – says Eliana from Cyprus – the tensions with Turkey are still very much alive. Since 1974, 40% of the Cypriots living in the north of the island were forced to return to the Greek part, in the south, and in effect are refugees, living in conditions of poverty. What’s worrying is especially the fact that the young are losing the real values of life”. In the view of Kastriot ( Kosovo), “the main problem is the future of our State, which has no guarantees or security at the present time. The result is that many young people prefer to emigrate, especially to Switzerland and Germany”. Much the same lament is made by Evelyne ( Egypt): “there is a shortage of jobs for the young, and in any case Egyptians prefer to hire Moslems instead of Christians. For that reasons, many families are emigrating from Egypt to North America”. The consolations. “In Egypt – says Evelyne – the freedom to practice one’s own religion was an important gain in civil liberties: the fact that there are still Christians in the country is in itself a consolation, and in particular the fact there are still Catholics, given that the majority of Christians are Orthodox”. The consolation of the Kosovars, says Kastriot, “are the young: it’s encouraging to know that 90% of them are now regularly attending school”. In Jordan too, echoes Antoun, “schools, universities and education in general are far more accessible than they once were”. Hopes in the “new Europe”. “Today it’s impossible to enter the Holy Land from Jordan”, says Antoun. “We were asked to bring a drum of water from the river Jordan to this meeting because we were told that a baby girl was to be baptised and together with her all of us could recall our own baptism. But we weren’t even able to get close to the river to fetch the water. We asked the soldiers of the military patrols that guard its banks whether they could get it for us. They did so and so the water of Jordan is here in Loreto. We would like Europe to help us to cross the frontier and visit the Holy Land”. Rana, she too from Jordan, recalls that “the roots of Christianity are to be found in Jordan and throughout the Middle East. In the West little attention is paid to this fact. We would like to be able to tell Europe about our culture which has its origins in Christianity”. Eliana (Cyprus) has an explicit request to make: “Europe has a lot of experience in terms of strong and stable governments: we hope it may be able to share its political experience with us, together with the technology that is little diffused in our country. Cypriot culture is still ancient and could represent an important legacy for the whole of Europe”. Kastriot (Kosovo) hopes that Europe may give “concrete aid so that Kosovo may become independent and then enter the EU”. Dorian, from Albania, hopes that “Europe may foster reconciliation and peace between Kosovo and Serbia. A peace that is born in the hearts of simple people, and that, God willing, may begin here in Loreto thanks to the youth of the Mediterranean”.