Document of Pre-Synodal Meeting of Young People released

By Linda Bordoni

A document released by the Pre-Synodal Meeting of Young People was presented in the Vatican on Saturday following a weeklong meeting which was opened in the presence of Pope Francis.

The Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment” will take place in the Vatican in October 2018.

Presenting the document during a briefing at the Vatican Press Office, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, explained it is one of the sources that will contribute to the preparation of the Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod itself.

Contributions from all over the world

Baldisseri also said other contributions will be provided by the Episcopal Conferences, by the Synods of the Eastern Catholic Churches and by synthesis documents resulting from listening sessions conducted in dioceses across the world.

He added that the results of the online questionnaire proposed to young people and the interventions of the international seminar on young people organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod in September 2017 will be added to all that material, as well as observations spontaneously sent in by individuals and groups from all over the planet.

Three-part document

Baldisseri said the document drawn up during this week is divided into three parts, preceded by an introduction: the first part deals with the challenges and opportunities of young people in today's world; the second on faith and vocation, on discernment and on the accompaniment of young people; the third on the Church's formative and pastoral activities.

He noted that approximately 15,300 young people from the five continents took part in the meeting - physically or virtually - representing their peers all over the world.

Document to be handed to Pope Francis on Palm Sunday

Baldisseri concluded saying that on Sunday some of the young people who have been involved in the meeting will have the privilege of offering the document to Pope Francis himself.

“Significantly, he said, the person chosen to deliver the text into the hands of the Pope is a young man from Panama, the nation that will host World Youth Day in 2019.