AMERICA/PARAGUAY - Young Catholics want to commit themselves in the social field

Ypacaraí (Agenzia Fides) - The building of the civilization of love is realized and manifested concretely in the love towards God, he Church and the poor. This is the summary of the XVII Latin American Meeting of National Directors of Youth Pastoral, which began last Sunday and ended yesterday, October 26, in the House of the Salesian Family in Ypacaraí in Paraguay.
As reported to Fides, the meeting, shared by more than 150 representatives from all Latin American countries, put the spotlight on young people'' in the present context of the Latin American continent, where impressive economic and socio-cultural processes are changing the lives of individuals and multitudes. "We are good when it comes to asking or complaining, but sometimes we are not so good at generating alternatives for social change," admitted Michelle Rojas, head of the youth pastoral in Paraguay.
The meeting revived some key words that are indispensable points of reference for any authentic youth pastoral: continuous personal and community formation; witness to the faith made through a life transfigured by the encounter with Christ; a commitment to support in any form the wishes of a more just society; dialogue, understood as participation in the debate on political issues that challenge the public and social organizations; and the mission as a permanent horizon of action and presence of the Church in different contexts; the preferential option for the poor and excluded as a powerful sign of God's love for all men. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 27/10/2012)