The Pope and the youth emergency ” “

The national meeting of Swiss youth with the Pope (Bern, 5-6 June) surprised almost everyone, because it’s the first time it proved possible to bring together in a single event the complex situation of the youth apostolate in Switzerland. Multiculturism, the presence of several linguistic groups and mutual influence between various Christian confessions, are at the basis of a difficult social, and in some sense also ecclesial, process of integration. It was considered a significant step forward just to have created a synthesis of the experiences peculiar to each group. We have collected various reactions to the meeting. “The Pope with his appeals to personal responsibility, to mission and to unity sealed a renewed desire to travel together. Taking as his cue the slogan ‘Rise Up!’ adopted by the bishops for the meeting, John Paul II explained to the young what is meant by rising up, taking to the road, walking with others towards the ideals than cannot be satisfied just by mobile phones, music, entertainment or discos. That’s why the Pope appeals to the young once again to fling open the doors, and have no fear of living according to the Gospel. It’s important to this end to start out from projects for youth that do not have a strongly ecclesial connotation. In parishes, too, efforts have been made to open clubs where the young can meet together and that are accessible to everyone, without asking for active participation in the life of the community. Contact with young believers enables many others in the same age group to find the road”. (Amedée Grab, president of the Swiss Episcopal Conference) “John Paul II reminds the young that God is with them at each step they take in life. At home and at school they can count on God, believe in the values of life, and have a reason for living that can be adapted not just to the youth of our country but to those elsewhere: a message of strong faith that unites movements, groups, diocesan pastoral services and religious communities. Through the period of preparation of the meeting, we took account of the other confessions that were able to meet each other also on this occasion. It’s true that it was called a meeting of Catholic youth, but it was intended not just for them, but for all youth and for the whole people of God. After the Pope’s departure, we are now questioning ourselves about the prospects being opened for youth ministry. While it’s true that the outcome of the meeting exceeded our expectations, the challenges facing the Church are more than ever daunting, beginning from widespread indifference and the fact that a high percentage of youth say they are non-believers”. ( Denis Theurillat, auxiliary bishop of Basel and delegate for youth ministry of the Swiss Episcopal Conference) “There were at least 1,400 of us from Lugano, but if I think of those who stayed at home, I have good grounds for being worried, because we represent just 10% of youth. However pleased I am by the outcome of the meeting, I cannot be satisfied: I have to find out the motivations of those 90% of youth who don’t believe: today I’ve got ten lambs in the fold and ninety outside. This is a real emergency that the local Church is trying to tackle, in conformity with the Pope’s appeal to bear witness to the faith in person, by reaching out to the young in the places they frequent in their daily life, and by proposing to them a more informal style and language. Not by chance did I adopt as the logo of the episcopate the image of the disciples at Emmaus to express my desire to take to the road and go out to meet people, to try to answer their questions and enter into their problems without waiting for them to come to me – in tune with a kind of ‘on-the-road’ apostolate that wishes to go out to meet the new generations and bring them the Gospel of Jesus”. ( Piergiacomo Grampa, bishop of the diocese of Canton Ticino) “At Fribourg [in western Switzerland] too we are meeting the young in the places they frequent in their ordinary life. We began from a school, because I know the headmaster and have already proposed to him to bring Christ to places that are closer to the young. I’m convinced that teenagers should not meet Christ just in churches. Besides, people often go to mass for trivial reasons and afterward return to the same old life as before. My diocese has already created spaces where the young can meet together and where they succeed in discussing the faith outside the church, in city squares and in youth clubs”. ( Bernard Genoud, bishop of Fribourg)