A “Youth Mission” for all the young people of Madrid: that’s the project launched by Cardinal Antonio M. Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid, and presented on Pentecost Sunday as “one of the fruits of the 3rd diocesan Synod, held last year”. News of the mission is given by the Fides international press agency, which also explains the “twofold objective” of the project: “on the one hand, helping young Catholics to strengthen and celebrate their faith by assuming their responsibility to be witnesses of the living Christ among their fellowmen, and on the other, proclaiming and proposing Jesus Christ to all the youth of the diocese of Madrid”. The Mission is targeted at youth and adolescents aged between 14 and 30. “Each in his place, and among his own people, must recognise himself to be the bearer of the salvation won by the Cross of redemption”, declared the cardinal in presenting the Mission, “which is not human but supernatural” and which is based on the fact that “each Christian must recognize himself to be sent by God, and called by the mandate of the Lord: “Go into all the world!”. The “Youth Mission” is subdivided into three stages. A first stage of Pre-Mission began on Pentecost Sunday and will extend to November 2006. The objective of this stage is to involve all the diocesan community, and especially committed young people, to undertake the mission to the youth who have dropped out of the life of the Church. The key event of this first stage is the pilgrimage to the Holy land led by the cardinal himself from 16 to 26 July. A national youth meeting is planned at Javier from 4 to 6 August and at Guadalupe from 29 September to 1 October. The missionary “sending out” on the occasion of the feast of Almudena, Patron of Madrid, will take place on 8-9 November. The Diocesan Youth Week is planned from 10 to 12 November. The Mission proper will be held from November 2006 to April 2007. Various activities are planned, such as rallies, festivals, testimonies and distribution of Bibles. The third stage is the Post-Mission: from July 2007, all those who want to begin to deepen their knowledge of Jesus Christ will be welcomed and accompanied.
