What do young people want? The Church is listening

VANCOUVER—Young people are not the future of the Church. According to Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, they are the present.

“The youth are a barometer for many things about the present culture,” he told The B.C. Catholic during his visit to Vancouver March 19.

“I learned this from business people and those in advertising. If they want to sell a product, or if they are thinking of what new product to manufacture and how to package it, they always turn to the youth.”

He said as Rome gears up for a Synod on Youth and Vocational Discernment this fall, the Church would do well to listen to its younger members, too.

“Very often I hear: ‘Oh, the young people of today, they are different.’ Of course they are different! And some will even say: ‘The lost generation.’ Are they lost? Or have we lost them?”

Cardinal Tagle, a bishop since 2001, said he has learned many things from young people. “They’re not a ‘problem.’ They have a lot of resources for the good of society and the church, if only we can tap into them and give them the space to share the good that is in them.”

In preparation for the synod in October, extensive consultations with young people have been held across the globe. At the synod itself, representatives from around the world will present the results of these discussions to Pope Francis and others.

Cardinal Tagle hopes this is only the beginning of a new movement in the Church that takes its youth seriously.

“They don’t listen to the elders because they don’t see the elders listening to them,” he said.

“I believe the process of this synod is what we want to do daily, not just during the synod. Can we listen to one another? When the young people know they are listened to, maybe they will to the elders.”

So, what do young people want from the Church? A pre-synod meeting in Rome with several bishops and 300 young people (with another 15,000 tuning in online) March 19-24 came up with some interesting answers.

“Today’s young people are longing for an authentic Church,” said a document published on the Vatican’s website after the meetings.

“We want to say, especially to the hierarchy of the Church, that they should be a transparent, welcoming, honest, inviting, communicative, accessible, joyful, and interactive community.”

It also said young people gravitate toward communities they feel empowered in, which means churches and families need to work harder to create a sense of belonging and provide good role models.

“There is often disagreement among young people, both within the Church and in the wider world, about some of her teachings which are especially controversial today,” such as contraception, abortion, homosexuality, cohabitation, marriage, and the priesthood.

“As a result, they may want the Church to change her teaching or at least to have access to a better explanation,” but “even though there is internal debate, young Catholics whose convictions are in conflict with official teaching still desire to be part of the Church.”

The document also discussed the challenges facing young people and their use of technology and social media, as well as the growing sense that religion is “no longer seen as the main stream” where people look for the meaning of life.

“We have found that young people want authentic witnesses – men and women who vibrantly express their faith and relationship with Jesus while encouraging others to approach, meet, and fall in love with Jesus themselves.”

The B.C. Catholic asked two local young adults for their thoughts on what they’d like to see from the synod and the Catholic Church.

“I’m very thankful that Pope Francis has made youth and young adults a priority and is seeking the help and input of this demographic,” said Rachel Wong, a communications student at Simon Fraser University.

“It is my hope that through this synod, there can be a greater connection and understanding between our generation and the ones before us. Young people want to get involved in the parishes, and many are, but many also face a lack of opportunity and a lack of change from older generations. We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel, but to provide new insight and perspective.”

Matthew Furtado, a youth ministry coordinator at St. Matthew’s Parish in Surrey, was thrilled to see the pre-synod document encourage young people to use social media to evangelize, take a gap year to serve in missions, be creative, appreciate silent prayer, and share personal testimonies.

“It’s fantastic that the Church is taking the time to recognize the needs and desires of young people,” though “these are gone to waste if we cannot properly put them into action,” he said.

“My personal encounters in ministry have convinced me that young people have a deep longing for the Church to reach them through art, beauty, adoration, meditation, contemplation, and testimony.”

Furtado added that many of these outlets already have strong presences or are being actively promoted in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He and Wong, along with several other young adults, participated in a national youth consultation hosted by Salt and Light Television Oct. 10, 2017.

More information about the synod coming up this October is available at www.synod2018.va.