A forum for youth” “

An “agora”, a forum where people can meet and exchange experiences and ideas: that’s the aim of a meeting organized by Italy’s national Service for youth apostolate and national Office for missionary cooperation, in collaboration with the “John Paul II” Centre of spirituality. It’s called the “Agora of Mediterranean youth” which aims to promote, through a cycle of eight meetings, reciprocal understanding and dialogue between the peoples of the Mediterranean. The first meeting, held in Loreto in mid-September, was attended by young representatives of the Churches of 22 countries. We sounded out some of their experiences. What do the youth of Albania, Syria, Malta, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Croatia and Israel have in common? Many centuries of history during which the destinies of their peoples became interwoven along the shores of ‘mare nostrum’, a present with very similar problems and hopes, and a future either in the European Union or in close partnership with it. “Young people in Croatia don’t pitch their hopes too high: they want a normal life, find a job after their studies, but often they have to content themselves with working in market stalls or in restaurants: that’s why many wish to go abroad”, says Dijana, who is studying to be a teacher in Zagreb and heads the Office for youth apostolate in Croatia. Her experience is widely shared. “Young Turks study to create a future and have to support very high costs for their education, but after graduating they fail to find a suitable job and so emigrate: to the USA, Canada, anywhere”, says Irem, 22 years old, from Istanbul. The same happens in Greece, as recounted by Nikos, a young priest from the Cyclades. “Young Syrians – says Rami from Aleppo – emigrate to Canada, France, Italy: what they wish more than anything is the development of their own country”. Albanian youth, on the contrary, cannot leave their own country when they want to do so: “Obtaining a visa is very difficult; even for me to come here to Loreto it was tough – says Adelina from Tirana -. In spite of the fact that the need to earn a living forces many to leave school early, they fail to find work. Young Albanians would remain at home if they could: I too wouldn’t want to live anywhere else”. Spanish youth, more fortunate in terms of availbility of jobs, are familiar, however, with the problems of terrorism and immigration and “suffer from the anxiety born from being unable to identify with the society that surrounds them”, say Carmen and Ramon from Ciudad Real. And what about young Christians from Palestine: what are they like? “They’re just like anyone else – replies Sami, whose family lives opposite the refugee camp of Jenin – they love life and have their desires and their dreams. The Intifada does not only have a violent face: it means the reawakening of Palestinian national awareness; we’ve come to the consciousness that the time has come to coexist peacefully with the Israelis but with dignity”. “Europe – continues Sami – may do a lot in this situation, by playing an important role in mediation: a good deal of solidarity and support has come to us from Europe. I would like in particular to thank the Italian youth for their pilgrimages of solidarity in the Holy Land. At times these gestures may be more important than material aid”. “Young people – say Carmen and Ramon – have the dream of a united Europe open to brotherhood and solidarity with other countries and with the immigrants who are forced to abandon their own country”. “To give concrete expression to this idea of Europe – commented Father Paolo Giulietti of Italy’s national Office for youth apostolate, drawing the conclusions of the meeting – we need to devote ourselves to the task of fostering reciprocal knowledge between our Churches, also by praying for each other. Study is also important: the role of constructor cannot be improvised. Jesus learnt the carpenter’s trade at home in Nazareth: if the Lord did not evade the effort to learn, we too must not do so. The agora we have shared is a small piazza, like that familiar in so many Mediterranean countries, but we tried to think big, and it’s that we must continue to do to construct the Europe of tomorrow”. Chiara Santomiero correspondent of SirEurope at Loreto