Abstract
From October 2016 to March 2019, the Catholic Church engaged in a lengthy journey together with young people. Over these two and a half years, some important documents were produced, including the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit by Pope Francis. The Synod on Youth has involved the entire Catholic Church, mobilizing all Church communities around the world. After explaining the identity and meaning of a Synod for the Catholic Church, the author offers ten points of no return, which are to be considered the main fruits of this journey. They are leaven for the renewal of youth ministry in the Catholic context and elements for further exploration, comparison and dialogue with other Christian denominations.
Highlights
On 17 September 1965, through the “Motu Proprio” Apostolica Sollicitudo, Pope Paul VI instituted in the Catholic Church the Synod of Bishops to accompany the process of reception of the Second
We are not omnipotent! This awareness can be a great opportunity for all young people: that of recognizing once more that they are human, of once more coming into contact with our finite nature, “in the sure knowledge that error, failure and crisis are experiences that can strengthen their humanity” (Pope Francis 2019, no. 233)
XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops 2018c, nos. 114–27), and because we discovered that this is God’s great desire for the Church: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium”
Summary
The third and most important initiative was the Pre-Synodal Youth Meeting (19–24 March 2018), which was attended by about 300 young representatives from all the Episcopal Conferences around the world and which, after a week of work together, produced a very significant summary document (XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops 2018b). A Final Document comprising of 167 numbered articles was produced and gained a majority vote (XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops 2018c) It was intended primarily for the Holy Father Pope Francis. Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit, signed by Pope Francis on 25 March 2019, in the Marian shrine of Loreto, Italy (Pope Francis 2019) It is a document comprising 299 numbered articles and takes into account the entire synodal journey, but at the same time relaunches it in a new way. Accompaniment is the keyword that sums things up and urges us to a new ecclesial style of closeness to the younger generations
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