European Bishops: Card. Bagnasco, “the problem of young people is only one: that of adults”

“The problem of young people is only one: that of adults”. Card. Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, said this on the margins of the CCEE Plenary Assembly, speaking to the press about what emerged from the debate held by the European Bishops today on the situation of youth in Europe, in preparation for the Synod on Young People scheduled for October next year. “I believe that at the root of all the problems that young people have today – Cardinal Bagnasco said – is certainly a conflicting relationship with adults, which is totally different from 1968, which was the time of the cultural revolution when young people would refuse anything that came from the world of adults and institutions, from the Church to the family and to the school. Today the situation is totally changed and young people do not refuse adults radically, but they may experience resentment when they do not find adults at their side as a reference point, and that goes for both the family and the Church, despite so much generosity”. There is another fact that the Cardinal stressed in light of what emerged from the debate among the Bishops: “Society is liquid and generates uncertainty, identity confusion about life, the world and the meaning of things. The consequence of uncertainty is an existential disesteem. Many young people do not have self-esteem despite appearing self-assured, or even arrogant or brash at times; in fact, they have fear inside themselves because of this existential confusion. They hope to find someone who will help and accompany them and, most importantly, see them, for they are often invisible, someone who will notice their presence and listen patiently to their questions without necessarily giving an answer, someone who will accompany them”. “St. John Bosco – he concluded – used to say that the problem of education is a problem of the heart and demands love from those surrounding us. Without this perspective on love, our words, our gestures, our presence will not become relevant”.