Document final — Les jeunes

Of particular significance is the difference in demographics between countries with a high birthrate, where young people represent a significant and growing proportion of the population, and those in which the influence of the young is on the wane. A further differentiating factor is historical: there are countries and continents of ancient Christian tradition, whose culture is indelibly marked by a memory that cannot be lightly dismissed, while other countries and continents are characterized by other religious traditions where Christianity is a minority presence – and at times a recent one. In other places Christian communities, and young people who belong to them, suffer persecution.