Greg Daly
The Church runs the risk of becoming a museum unless it can learn to reach out more to young people, Pope Francis warned this week.
The Pontiff insisted that young people will not find the Church credible if it seems to be constantly on the defensive and focused on a small number of issues. Francis made the call in a major new document addressed especially to young people in the contemporary world.
“A Church always on the defensive, which loses her humility and stops listening to others, which leaves no room for questions, loses her youth and turns into a museum,” he writes in Christus vivit (‘Christ Lives’) his new apostolic exhortation on young people, the Faith, and apostolic exhortation.
Humble
Reflecting on last year’s Synod of Bishops on young people, the Pope said young people need to see a Church that is both confident and humble, and that is willing to listen.
Stressing that young people should understand that they are loved by God and saved by Jesus, who continues to live and act in the world and in their lives, the Pontiff called on parishes and other Church bodies to engage in youth ministry in a positive, loving and sincere way
“Young people need to be approached with the grammar of love, not by being preached at,” he writes, continuing: “The language that young people understand is spoken by those who radiate life, by those who are there for them and with them. And those who, for all their limitations and weaknesses, try to live their faith with integrity.”
While the document emphasises the importance of heeding the experience and wisdom of older members of the Church, it calls on older Catholics to guide rather than stifle the enthusiasm of young people, and to make changes based on what young people themselves say they want.
“Let us ask the Lord to free the Church from those who would make her grow old, encase her in the past, hold her back or keep her at a standstill,” he writes, cautioning at the same time against succumbing to passing fashions and losing her identity by setting her message aside.
The document emphasises the importance of encouraging and helping young people to share their Faith with each other, and dedicates a lengthy section to the discernment of vocations, which Pope Francis describes as “finding our true selves in the light of God and letting our lives flourish and bear fruit”.
Acknowledging that for most this will mean marrying, forming a family, and working, he also stresses the importance of young people not dismissing the possibility that God is calling them to priesthood or religious life, and to remember that God continues to call people to serve him in such ways.
“If we are indeed convinced that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, we can ‘once more cast out the nets’ in the Lord’s name, with complete confidence. We can dare, as we should, to tell each young person to ask whether this is the path that they are meant to follow,” he writes.
Recalling that “the Lord cannot fail in his promise to provide the Church with shepherds” he writes: “In discerning your vocation, do not dismiss the possibility of devoting yourself to God in the priesthood, the religious life or in other forms of consecration. Why not? You can be sure that, if you do recognise and follow a call from God, there you will find complete fulfilment.”
Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry, who represented the bishops of Ireland at the 2018 Synod, described the document as “accessible and inspiring”.
“The early publication of the document is a welcome sign that Pope Francis recognises the urgency of a renewed emphasis on creating new young disciples of Jesus,” he said.