The Synod desired by Holy Father Francis is a moment to "give word to the young," explained Fr Rossano Sala, SDB, Special Secretary of the Synod.
The Instrumentum Laboris is a document structured in three parts: recognizing, interpreting and choosing. The document contains information and reflections on the problems of youth, on the effects of the digital world on individuals, on disillusionment with traditional institutions, on living immersed in a "culture of indecision", on spiritual nostalgia, and on many other aspects of the daily reality of the young.
Another element of great importance is the new way of interpreting the vocational issue, abandoning a narrow vision that sees it only connected to priestly vocations and consecrated life.
And as for the decisive phase of choosing, in which the bishops must indicate how the Church and Youth Ministry can act in concrete terms, the document insists on the need to accompany young people in daily life and to open spaces of fraternity and true communion.
For Mons. Antonio de Assis Ribeiro, SDB, the realization of a Synod that focuses on young people and that takes these guidelines is a fundamental passage for the Church today. "Pope Francis invites us to commit ourselves much more seriously and deeply with the young. There is a theological motivation, not simply a sociological one. The Pope tells us that 'God is young', which is why the Church must also rejuvenate. Young people are bearers of characteristics that should be present in every ecclesial community: dynamism, joy, optimism, hope, audacity ... May the Church learn together with the young!," says the prelate.
The goal of the Synod, the Brazilian bishop stated is "to find the most appropriate way to accompany young people in the process of evangelization, deepening the vocational dimension as a call to happiness, as a gift of God and as human responsibility."
