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Pope Francis’ address to the international congress on youth ministry
of the dicastery for the laity, family and life
Clementine Hall – Saturday, 25 May 2024
‘Discernment, is synodal, is personal, is directed to the truth’
First of all, I woould like to thank all those who contributed to the success of World Youth Day in Lisbon.
It was a great deal of work, but it was well worth the effort. After the pandemic, and in the midst of so many international tensions, young people needed an injection of hope.
Those days in Lisbon were a real celebration of the joy of being alive and being Christian.
They were a celebration of the hope that continues to dwell in the hearts of young people, because God himself nourishes and strengthens the heart, in the face of adversity.
Dear friends, encouraged by that experience, you are now called to work in preparing for the forthcoming international events, but also, and above all, to continue accompanying youth ministry in “ordinary times”.
As I think about the Jubilee for Youth next year and WYD in Seoul three years from now, my “dream” is that these events will help many of the young, including those who are not ordinarily churchgoers, to encounter Jesus, and to hear the Gospel’s message of hope.
I think of those young people who are dejected, who no longer lift their eyes to the horizon, who have put aside their big dreams and who are now trapped in disillusionment and overwhelmed by the problems of life.
Asia is a young continent, full of life, yet many young people, especially in the large cities, are suffering from a loss of hope and are withdrawing into themselves, with few relationships, few interests.
The same thing is happening all over the world.
The events in Rome and Seoul are God-given opportunities for us to tell young people all over the world that Jesus is hope, for you, for us, and for everyone!
As you prepare for these two great events, you must not neglect the ordinary ways. that is, the journey of young people in their everyday lives.
I am referring to the kind of pastoral care that consists of of small steps, small numbers, simple words and actions, everyday decisions and moments of celebration and prayer in community.
These may be less spectacular experiences, but they are the ones that touch hearts and bear fruit over time. This is the holiness in daily life that I spoke about in Gaudete et exsultate. Not to promote my own writings, but read Gaudete et Exsultate, It is a hymn to joy. Joy should be the Christian’s sustenance, the true expression of a Christian, and if you don’t know what joy is, go in front of the mirror and and after a while you’ll start laughing!
In this regard, I would like to mention some things that should never be lacking in the daily work of youth ministry.
First, young people need to be helped to arrive at certain basic certainties in life, truths of the heart:
“God is love,” “Christ saves you”, “He lives”, and “the Spirit gives life.”
These are the certainties but there is also another:
Our Lady loves you because she is a mother.
We must never tire of proclaiming these four or five simple truths (cf. Christus Vivit, 112-133).
Young people may be worried about the bad news that bombards us daily, but this should not obscure their certainty that the risen Christ is with them and is more powerful than any evil.
I’m not saying the news, or publicizing the wars, but we think about them because young people are sensitive to this. Christ is alive! Everything that lives is in his hands.
He alone knows the future of our world and of our individual lives.
It is important to offer young people opportunities to experience the living Christ through prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, community gatherings, service to the poor and the testimony of the lives of the saints.
Young people who have had this experience become convincing witnesses of the Gospel message.
Another essential element is spiritual discernment (cf. Christus Vivit, 278-298).
Discernment is an art that pastoral ministers must be the first to learn: priests and religious, catechists and adult guides, and young people who accompany other young people.
It is a skill that cannot be improvised, but has to be cultivated, experienced and lived.
For a young person, to find someone capable of discernment is to find a treasure.
In the journey of faith and the discovery of one’s vocation, a wise guide helps avoid many mistakes, much naiveté, many moments of bewilderment and “paralysis”.
A guide does not take away freedom but accompanies it.
I have devoted a series of Wednesday Audience talks to discernment; you can go and look them up because they explain how discernment is conducted.
Here I would like to highlight just three aspects of discernment: it is synodal, it is personal and it is directed to the truth.
1. Synodal. In these days of rampant individualism, everyone goes their own way, everyone determines what is meaningful in life, everyone establishes their own values, their own truths.
We can see this in the categorization of “like” and “dislike”.
It is an ugly individualism.
On the other hand, in the practice of discernment, the Church puts our brothers and sisters in the faith at our side, so that we do not walk alone but together, and thus our interior growth is greatly enriched. In this sense, discernment is synodal.
2. At the same time, discernment is personal.
In our world, everything is mass-produced and standardized.
Instead, Young people need to be accompanied personally, as individuals.
Each one of them is unique, and each one deserves to be listened to, understood and given advice appropriate to his or her age as well as human and spiritual maturity.
Discernment must necessarily be personal.
The other day, I had a meeting in a parish with about sixty teenagers, I was pleased with the questions they asked, questions of opening to the Lord and of doubt.
It is a question of listening and of helping to move forward.
3. Finally, discernment is also truth-oriented.
We live in a society that is poisoned by fake news, where personal profiles are often tailored or falsified, where people create alternative identities.
Discernment is for young people a way to authenticity: a way to get out of artificial identities and discover their true identity.. Discernment is about being “real”: to oneself, to others, and to God.
We sometimes laugh when we see women wear make-up, they have to look good, that’s why they wear makeup. But how often do we all put make-up on our souls to appear to be what we are not?
Be careful of that. Be truthful before others, before God and before ourselves..
Finally, I would like to stress the importance of continuing to listen to young people.
Real listening, not “half-hearted” or “window-dressing” listening.
Young people should not be pushed into promoting ideas and activities already decided by others, or that do not really meet their needs.
Young people should be empowered, involved in dialogue, in planning activities, in making decisions.
They should be made to feel that they are an active and full part of the life of the Church; and above all that they are called to be the first to bring the Gospel message to their peers.
Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you once again for your commitment with young people and for young people!
Continue courageously to proclaim to everyone the good news that Jesus lives and is Lord.
This is the message of joy, consolation and hope that so many people in our world are waiting for.
I bless all of you from the heart, and I ask you to pray for me. Thank you very much.
