A weekend with Father Guy Gilbert: from 10 to 12 November Catholic youth in Athens met together to participate in a meeting with the French priest Father Guy Gilbert, “acrobat of God” or “kamikaze of hope” as many love to call him due to his long apostolate at the service of young people in difficulty who form part of violent gangs. Father Gilbert is a distinctive figure: he wears a black leather bomber jacket liberally studded with brooches and badges – “it’s my combat gear”, he explains. His fingers are adorned with numerous rings, and he tells all the young he meets: “the Gospel is an invincible word”. “All the young who live in this world – ha says – believe more in their gangs than they do in love. Living in their midst, I have discovered the power of the Gospel. Behind what is filthiest and most sordid there may exist a wonderful human being who asks for nothing more than to emerge”. On 10 November he spoke to the youth of Athens on the “joy of giving oneself to others”, and on the following day, suiting action to word, he went to visit young detainees in the local prison. The weekend ended with a Sunday celebration followed by a lunch and a visit to the Acropolis with a prayer on the stone of St. Paul.
