Young people and bishops

The young people speak, the bishops listen and take notes. Then the word passes to the adults, and this time it is the children who mark their words on a sheet of paper. This exchange has been active in Lombardy since November 2021 thanks to the Youth and Bishops project managed by the diocese of Milan. It is new and has the aim of finding new ways of growth within the Church, starting precisely from the lives and experiences of the youngest and from one consideration: the children who attend the Church are decreasing. What to do then? How to reach them and what new tools to give to those who, on the other hand, recognize themselves as part of the Church?

The first stage of the itinerary was in the Cathedral of Milan, on November 6: on that occasion, the Lombard bishops divided into working tables and discussed with two hundred young people on crucial issues for the our time, such as affections, interculture, vocation and work, ecology and rituals. Then some regional commissions were born on the same issues, which now have the task of drafting the new guidelines for youth pastoral care in Lombardy.

The young people involved, all involved in movements, associations or parishes, have indicated to the bishops some actions that they see as a priority and for which they are willing to commit themselves personally. For example, that a "school of love" be spread throughout the territories to learn to live affections in a healthy and generative way, that ecology ("Integral ecology", as presented by Pope Francis in Laudato si' ) may it become a topic of reflection and action in all parishes, that the profound meaning of Christian rites be rediscovered, often experienced as empty and boring moments. Again, that adults know how to be points of reference with which they can compare themselves, and that the Church has the courage to go beyond her boundaries. So many ideas, in short, to be explored, but which slowly pave the way. The next meeting is set for 8 October and the participants have one wish: that words may soon turn into reality.


Chiara Vitali
NP August / September 2022