Peace from common faith

For eight days they spoke, lived and ate together. Over one hundred young Christians from a number of different European and Mediterranean Countries stayed at the John Paul II Centre in Loreto from August 31 through September 7 for the “Agora of Mediterranean youth”, the exchange project of the Youth Pastoral National Office, which this year reached its seventh edition. This year’s theme was “Blessed be those who spread peace, for God embraces them as His sons”. The youth also made significant experiences, like the Papal audience in Rome and the encounter with testimonies of peace. On September 6, the youth had a meeting with Msgr. Giuseppe Betori, the new archbishop of Florence, who encouraged them to live their mission as a cultural commitment, so as to contribute “to the creation of what Pope Paul VI defined the ‘civilization of love'”. “This, he added, can also be understood as a social and political missionary experience that holds much significance in today’s globalized era”.“Us, a Christian minority”. Youth from world Countries extending from Northern Europe to North Africa gathered in Loreto, where they had the unique opportunity of sharing their life and faith experiences. “In my Country, Turkey – Omar Mario Servisoglu told SIR Europe, – Christians represent only 1.3% of the overall population. What I like the most in Loreto is the possibility of being with people who share my faith in Jesus Christ”. Servisoglu studies at the Dominican Fathers’ seminary in Izmir, also known as Smirne. His family is of Armenian origin. “Christians living in Turkey aren’t active evangelizers – he explained – And if a Muslim converts to Christianity he looses his job”. “Coexistence with the Muslim majority is marked by peaceful relations, however, the fundamentalist fringes present in my country are reason for concern”. “Europe is a different modality”. Mira, who lives in Jordan, was extremely happy to visit Loreto. In her view, the presence of “committed lay people” is important not only for the Church but also for society as a whole: “I was deeply touched by these young people who are motivated by a passionate quest for something beautiful in life”, she told SIR Europe. “I work in a youth centre, with over seventy young people. Some of them are Christian Chaldean Iraqi immigrants. They have much anger in their hearts for having been forced to leave their Country”. Mira claimed that Christians are gradually leaving from Egypt too “because they have no job opportunities. Italy, as the rest of Europe, is another world to them. In this sense, the audience with the Pope was a consolation to me. I felt less lonely. I finally felt very close to the Church”. Issa Khlief, a young man from Jordan, was deeply moved by the audience with the Pope: “it was the dream of my life that has come true. This has been my the first experience outside the Arab world. In my country, Christians amount to less than 2%, many of whom are Orthodox: the rites are different. However, at times Christians from different confessions come together to pray in the same churches”. Also Khlief has experienced being part of a religious minority: “in general – he said – we live comfortably and enjoy the same rights of other Muslim citizens, but we can’t speak about our faith in public and conversion to Islam is not permitted”. War can’t be forgotten. The possibility of learning more about Christian faithful living in Northern Africa and in the Middle East, which she knew very little of, was most appreciated by Ivana Cogelja, a Croatian young woman from Split: “Almost everyone is Christian in my country – she told SIR Europe – however, Croatian youth, just like their European peers who have the fortunate heritage of a strong faith and a strong religion, relinquish them”. Cogelja has a university degree in theology. She has been helping organize a youth Meeting in her country. In the past two days she recalled the suffering she experienced in her homeland. “Although I was a child, I have strong memories of the 1990s war in Croatia and Bosnia. Other young people from the Balkan Countries attended the meeting here, but we never discussed politics”. Monika Norbutaite, from Lithuania, is one of the fortunate ones who were personally blessed by His Holiness during the audience of September 3rd. In her hometown, 80% are Catholic. “What I most enjoyed in Loreto were the moments of prayer, since, although we spoke different languages, we all felt part of the same family”. Norbutaite said how important it was for her to meet young Christians from different backgrounds. “It helps you see problems from a different angle”. I live in a town where the youth think mainly about money and material goods: they are fascinated by the lifestyle conveyed by the media and abandon the faith which their parents transmitted them”. As relates to the war between Russia and Georgia, she said, “our Church in Lithuania prayed for the Caucasus crisis, it’s the most we could do”.