Madrid is drawing near

At the end of August 2010 two hundred young people from all over France gathered on the hills of Taizé. Welcomed by the German prior of the Community, Frère Alois, they arrived with Msgr. Benoît de Rivière to prepare for the next World Youth Days due to be held in less than a year in Spain. The elderly prior general of the Dominicans, Englishman Timothy Radcliffe, shared with them a meditation on they ways to address contemporary youth. Youth from France, Germany and England met to prepare the even due to be held in Spain.Over twenty years since the first World Youth Days held in 1989 in Santiago de Compostela, the youth have grown more accustomed to the European sentiment. A survey revealed that the youth participating in the WYD grant special significance to the meetings with other youth (48%) and to the spiritual experience (38%).The WYD’s return to Spain in 2011 will be a mass event. Between 1.5 and 2 million young people are expected to attend the closing Mass with Benedict XVI on the ‘Cuatro Vientos’ esplanade. Italy’s is the largest foreign delegation, followed by France with 50.000-60.000 young people. On Friday August 19 the youth will participate in the Way of the Cross, which commemorates the Passion of the Christ. This celebration will be an occasion to discover the richness of Spain’s cultural traditions, with the staging of the Confraternities that stride Spain’s streets on Good Friday. The youth will be visiting a Country that suffered a hard blow from the economic crisis. The real-estate bubble exploded and the financial system, whose savings banks acted as the conveyors of local and regional financing, was severely shattered. Unemployment in Spain surged to 20.1% in June 2010, the highest figure in the European Union. The situation is even worse among the youth: over 40% of those between 16 and 24 are unemployed. Most of these young people continue their studies whilst being available on the job market. These are dire figures. In 2010 the youth unemployment rate in the EU doubled compared to 2009. 19.6 % – amounting to one on five young people – are unemployed, according to Eurostat figures for July. A similar situation is recorded across all developed Countries. According to an OECD document drawn up in view of the forthcoming forum for employment, the youth are seriously affected by the global economic crisis. “Youth unemployment rate (15-24) in OECD Countries increased by 6.5% from the end of 2007 to the end of 2009 reaching almost 20% (in seasonally adjusted terms). Some 15 million young people in the OECD area are currently unemployed, representing 4 million more compared to the end of 2007”. The authors of the report predict that “the unemployment rate will remain high for the next two years and numerous young unemployed risk being subjected to long-term unemployment”.At global level, the report of the Bureau International de Travail (Bit) (International Labour Organization), Global Employment Trends for Youth, released last month indicates that of some 620 million economically active youth aged 15 to 24 years, 81 million were unemployed at the end of 2009 the highest number ever. The youth unemployment rate increased from 11.9% in 2007 to 13.0% in 2009.For this reason, the world youth meeting due to be held next year in Spain is an opportune occasion for a reflection on faith since – with reference to the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the WYD – it is precisely in a difficult environment that we are strengthened in the faith and rooted and built up in Christ (cf. Col 2;7). In his address, Father Timothy Radcliffe entreated the youth to make visible the face of Christ, his ears, his mouth and his hands. To show that Christ is present in moments of sadness, as He listens to the accounts of efforts lacking gratification and proclaims His hope; as He reaches the hearts of the unemployed youth in Spain, Europe, and all over the world!