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The participants in this 10th General Congregation of the Synod formed an assembly that was engaged, attentive, and full of empathy. Especially when the young people spoke, expressing their desire to be a «true light in the darkness», agents of the Gospel in the public sphere. As auditors, coming from different parts of the world, they offered a living glimpse of their own reality, drawing attention to the right to peace and stability, often taken for granted, but of which so many of them are deprived.
The plight of young Iraqis
The testimony given by an Iraqi is significant in this regard. Inviting the Pope to come and visit his martyred country, he recounted a daily life made up of threats, kidnappings, murders, and flights, like that of the 120,000 faithful of the Nineveh Plain, under the threat of the Islamic State. The great fear, this young man confided, is that, by losing confidence in the future, Iraq may one day be emptied of Christians.
Taking into consideration young people of every culture
During the interventions of the bishops, the threat of religious fundamentalism and of the corruption that weigh upon the horizon of faith and hope of young people was highlighted. How can we respond to the desire for justice inscribed in the hearts of young people? The prelates proposed acting above all through good Christian and human formation, but they said «no» to an exclusively «Western» approach. Their invitation concerns a cultural change: greater attention must be given to the theme of migration, to that of poverty, of the loss of cultural roots, which afflict so many young people in the countries of the global South. Places where one also benefits from the joyful witness of faith: in certain African countries, for example, a young person's aspiration to the consecrated life or to the priesthood is a joy for the family and for society.
More of a feminine presence, less clericalism
The synodal assembly then evoked the anger of young people in the face of injustices, social discrimination, and scandals, with a call to increase the feminine presence in the Church and to foster a pastoral approach sensitive to «equality between men and women». Women, it was noted, can indeed help to break these «closed clerical circles» that may have favored the concealment of abuse. Furthermore, scouting was described as a witness to an approach open to all, without discrimination of sex, race, or religion. The attention of the synodal assembly was also drawn to the plight of so many migrants regarded as «irregular». The Church was urged to be the voice of the most vulnerable.
A lively ecumenism in the interventions of the fraternal delegates
In the synod hall the fraternal delegates finally spoke, designated by their respective Churches and ecclesial communities, which are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church. Following Reverend Tim Macquiban, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office, who that very morning had highlighted the value of lay movements, six other representatives of different Christian confessions took the floor during the afternoon.
The Metropolitan of the Dardanelles in the United States, Nikitas Lulias, representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, called for a new wave of freshness, a new breath of the Spirit that helps Christians to present the faith to young people without rigid formulas, in respect for the truth of the Gospel. For his part, Bishop Atanasio of Bogdania, delegate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, stressed the need to foster in young people a personal, friendly relationship with Christ, through prayer and asceticism, in times marked by «improvised masters who proclaim themselves holders of the truth». On behalf of the Lutheran World Federation, the young German Julia Braband recalled that young people are not only the future, but also the present of the Church; they must therefore be looked in the eye, listened to, and made participants. The Waldensian representative of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, Marco Alfredo Fornerone, noted the «surprising closeness» with the synod that he perceived during these days spent at the Vatican, also inviting all to «dare fully an openness to listening», since «reality is more important than the idea». Another young feminine presence was that of Martina Viktorie Kopecka, for the World Council of Churches, who spoke of the call addressed by God to all young people that they be mediators and bridges, with the conviction that «we are all beloved children of God». Finally the Anglican Bishop of Nairobi (Kenya), Joel Waweru Mwangi, rejoiced at the listening to young people on the part of the Catholic Church and of the Pope. The effects of the destruction of the family will be catastrophic, just like climate change, he warned, and Christians are called to denounce them.
Another recurring subject in the interventions of the synod fathers: the importance of the family and of formators, roots that young people need in order to grow in the manner of the branches of a tree.
