African and European youth to hold global Building Bridges conversation

By Sr. Titilayo Aduloju, SSMA

The Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN) and Missio Germany are working together to organize a virtual dialogue between young people from Africa and Europe.

The global conversation will be held on Saturday, 23 September, at 10:00 GMT, and is a response to Pope Francis' pastoral concern for young people around the world.

BBI African young people during an encounter with Pope Francis in November 2022

This conversation is being organized by the Building Bridges Initiative Africa (BBI) under the unit of the "Church of Now" of PACTPAN.

BBI focuses on engaging African university students in dialogue about their religion and holistic development with one another and with Church leadership using digital platforms

Focus of the global youth conversation

The global conversation, which is titled “Love and Life”, will provide an opportunity for young people in Africa and Europe to interact, listen to each other, and reflect on various issues related to their identity formation, human dignity, building authentic Christian, social, and cultural relationships, and contributing to the growth and renewal of the Catholic Church in Africa and throughout the world.

Logo of global conversation

It will also foster life-giving interaction among young people, equipping, inspiring, and encouraging them as they navigate through the sea of life.

Young people’s expectations from the global dialogue

Josefine Naton and Lili Hunerbein from Germany, Bindre Roger Dayamba from Burkina Faso, and Donald Peters from Nigeria spoke with Vatican News about their expectations and prospects for the global conversation.

Bindre said that the programme will be a time and moment to discuss the daily challenges experienced in Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso. “I will be able to tell the reality of my country to those from other countries and also expect them to share with their stories,” he said.

“They should also tell me how they are in the Church, how they are engaged, how are they committed in the Church in the country. So, it will be an occasion for us to have contact with them so that we can share experiences,” he added.

Josefine is also hoping to learn about other countries’ histories and Church experiences and to compare and contrast them with her own experiences in the German Church.

For Donald, “I really hope that we can get to interact more with other youths from Europe so that we can share our different ideas and get to know how things are on their end and also know about ours”.

Lili is expecting to meet new people and to discuss these topics about life and Church, with young people from different nations.

“I hope to get a lot more different perspectives on these topics and maybe life in, for sure life in different countries is totally different to my life,” she said.

Sharing experiences with others

Josefine observed that life can be challenging for young people in Germany, as they have few opportunities to speak about their faith both in the Church and in their communities.

“So, young people are standing up within the Church and demanding to be heard and to raise their voice,” she said. “And I would really like to see how this is in other countries.”

Donal would like to share the organization and activities of "building bridges initiatives", which include many Catholic institutions and seminaries across the country.

In Nigeria also, young people are active in Church activities and can share their faith and religion with courage.  

Bindre hopes to share during this great event about how in Burkina Faso, young people are working to establish an organization that will allow them to express themselves, feel valued, and contribute to the success of the Church’s mission.

He said, “in the Sahel region, we have the problem of terrorism in Burkina Faso and many challenges and how we organize and encourage young people to remain committed.”

Lili is looking forward to an exchange with others on why young people in Germany are disconnected from the Church, God, or even communities. “So many young people respond, ‘Oh, I don't mind, I don't care, I don't believe in anything,’ when you discuss religion and God with them.”

“And I'm wondering whether that's a global phenomenon, whether Germany is unique in this regard, and what the causes may be,” she said.

Prospects of the global conversation

Young people from Africa and Europe are hoping this conversation to continue as it will offer them the opportunity to meet, listen, and reflect together on issues relating to their faith and identity.

“I hope that after the event we can continue this dialogue and this communication between the international communities,” said Josefine. “But I can see what visions are raising through this event and working with the other attendees from the event to build something bigger.”

The participants concluded that they are all willing to share their experiences with others from their schools, Church communities, and countries who will be unable to participate in the programmes.