Appointment at Loreto

Over 300,000 youths from all over Italy and 800 representatives from 43 European and Mediterranean countries, guests of 32 dioceses in the Marche, Umbria, Emilia Romagna and Abruzzo, plus 1300 volunteers, will meet Benedict XVI in Loreto on 1-2 September. This is the first meeting of the Youth Agora that the Italian government, by a special ordinance, has described as a “great event”. The programme of the meeting was presented to journalists by the general secretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), Msgr. GIUSEPPE BETORI, in Rome in recent days . At the press conference Msgr. PAOLO GIULIETTI , head of the national youth pastoral service, presented the ‘itinerary’ of the Italian Youth Agora, the triennial pastoral programme promoted by the CEI “to give a new impetus to youth ministry in the 226 Italian dioceses and make the young increasingly active protagonists in the life of the Church”.MISSION AT THE CENTRE. It is just this, as explained by Msgr. Giulietti, that is “the objective of the Agora (www.agoradeigiovani.it). Its focal point is mission. The communication of the Gospel is the horizon within which the life and action of the Church needs to be re-thought: the Church is called to evangelise and at the same time assume attitudes and methods geared to the third millennium. The three-year programme, which symbolically we have called Agora (forum) to evoke the sense of a space and laboratory for debate, forms an organic part of the next decade of the Italian Church after the 4th National Ecclesial Congress in Verona in October 2006″. THREE YEARS. The pastoral programme is spread over three years. The first year (2006-2007) is dedicated to listening to the youth world and is aimed at bringing the Church (communities, youth, pastoral workers, etc.) into the open and establishing new relations with the young. The second year (2007-2008) is dedicated to the interpersonal dimension of evangelization; it forms a continuation of the first year, at the level of witness and daily presence in the environments in which the young live, and also comprises a series of extraordinary mission events. The third year (2008-2009), dedicated to the cultural and social dimension of evangelization, will focus attention on Christian witness on the frontiers of the great cultural and social questions” of our time. THREE KEY EVENTS. Three major events will punctuate this three-year programme: the national youth rally at Loreto in 2007, culminating in the meeting with the Pope; Word Youth Day (WYD) in Sydney in 2008; and a “simultaneous” national meeting in 2009, to be held in various Italian dioceses and in other venues such as shopping malls, railway stations, cinemas, public squares and ‘places of marginalization’.THE POPE AND LORETO. After being offered hospitality in the host dioceses (29-31 August), the young will make their way along the valley of Montorso (Loreto) on 1st September. There, in the early afternoon, a payer meeting enlivened with music and various performances will be held. The Pope, whose arrival is scheduled for the mid-afternoon, will then pray with the young, meditating on the gospel passage of the Annunciation. The evening will end with testimonies, music and entertainment. The night between Saturday and Sunday, concluding with the celebration of morning Lauds, last stage prior to the mass presided over by Benedict XVI, will be an occasion for the young to reflect on the themes meditated on during the day such as forgiveness, listening, vocation, engagement, ecumenism and environment. HYMN AND PRAYER. The Pope himself has written the prayer for Loreto, in response to a request made by the young. “Mary, Mother of the ‘yes’ – says one passage – you listened to Jesus, and know the sound of his voice and the beat of his heart. Morning star, speak to us of Him and tell us of your journey to follow Him in the life of faith”. Title of the prayer: “With Mary, in dialogue with Jesus”. A liturgical hymn “Light of truth” will accompany the prayer and enliven the moments of reflection. A “BRIDGE” HOUSE. In preparation for the meeting in Loreto, a delegation of the CEI youth pastoral service visited the Balkans in March this year to promote the project ‘Agora of Mediterranean Youth’. “Each year, youth from 24 countries of the Mediterranean area arrive in the ‘Santa Casa’ of Loreto thanks to this project. We now wish to make the links created during these meetings more stable and effective”, explained Msgr. Giulietti. So youth from Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia will also be attending the meeting in Loreto.