Cardinal Vincent invited young people to become 'digital apostles' at a meeting on Tuesday, 27th February to listen to their hopes and desires for their own lives and for the Church, ahead of the Synod on Youth in October.
In this video, the Cardinal reflects on the event:
The young adults assembled spoke about their personal aspirations and their sense of calling into a relationship with Jesus. They spoke about looking to the Church for guidance and accompaniment in discerning this calling and how they might respond. They asked for more formation and for more opportunities to come together as a community and to celebrate all that is good in the life of the Church.
They were also frank in their discussion of the challenges they face, such as false expectations and fake news created and disseminated by social media.
In their spirit of generosity, they also mentioned the gifts that they can offer in service of the Church, such as their abilities to organise and to use social media effectively to share the good news of the Gospel.
In respone, the Cardinal thanked them for their openness, their accompaniment of one another and their willingness to share their gifts. He encouraged them to continue to accompany one another and to come together more often as Church to share moments of celebration. He then asked them to become 'digital apostles', using their social media skills to start conversations with other young people and to invite them in to share the love of Christ in the Church.
He also asked them to continue to share in the conversation and invite others to share in the conversation which will take place in Rome from 19th to 24th March in a pre-synodal meeting of young people with Pope Francis. (Further information and how join can be found here.)
After the meeting, some of the young people present shared their feedback about the evening and what they were taking away from it:
The Cardinal and Bishops are holding a series of meetings around the diocese to listen to young people ahead of the Synod on Youth in October. Further details about forthcoming meetings and how to get involved can be found here.
Photo: Mazur/Catholicnews.org.uk
Additional photos from the evening are available here.
