Pastoral challenges of Christus Vivit

The 2018 Synod on Young People is now in the phase of its full realization, and young people are tasked with proposing ideas and projects so that the Synod can be implemented by Bishops’ Conferences, ecclesial movements and associations, and parishes, especially today in this time of pandemic.

This is what Fr. Alexandre Awi Mello, Secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, conveyed in his presentation titled: “The Pastoral Challenges of Christus Vivit,” which he gave on 31 October on the occasion of the meeting of the National Youth Ministry Teams of the Latin American region of the Southern Cone. All youth ministry leaders in the region participated in the meeting, which was held via virtual platform.

The pastoral implications or challenges of the post-Synodal exhortation Christus vivit are many, and the Secretary of the Dicastery sought to summarize them in terms of six areas: pastoral accompaniment; fostering a living encounter with Christ and with a young Church; youth leadership; youth ministry as the key to vocations; intergenerational dialogue; and fostering holiness among young people.

The youth ministry teams are called to respond to these challenges, to ensure that what is has been asked for by the Synod is put into motion, leaving the sphere of merely “good intentions” to become concrete realities of mission and evangelization.