Document final — Les jeunes

The proclamation of Jesus Christ, dead and risen, who has revealed the Father and imparted the Spirit, is the fundamental vocation of the Christian community. Part of this proclamation is the invitation to the young to recognize in their lives the signs of God’s love and to discover the community as a place of encounter with Christ. This proclamation, ever new, is the very foundation of the catechesis of young people and gives it a kerygmatic quality (cf. Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 164). We must keep alive our commitment to offering ongoing, holistic pathways that are able to integrate: living knowledge of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, the capacity to read personal experience and historical events in the light of faith, accompaniment for prayer and for the celebration of the liturgy, an introduction to Lectio Divina and support for the witness of charity and the promotion of justice. In this way, we put forward an authentic spirituality for the young. Catechetical courses need to illustrate the intimate connection of faith with the concrete experience of every day, with the world of sentiments and attachments, with the joys and disappointments that we meet in study and in work; they should include the Church’s social teaching; they should be open to the languages of beauty, music and different artistic expressions, and to the forms of digital communication. The dimensions of bodiliness, affectivity and sexuality should be taken very much into account, as there is a profound link between education in faith and education in love. Faith, after all, should be understood as praxis, or as a way of living in the world. In catechesis of the young, it is urgent to continue seeking out the right types of language and methodology, without ever losing sight of the essential, namely the encounter with Christ, who is the heart of catechesis. YouCat, DoCat and similar instruments are appreciated, though this is not to undervalue the catechisms produced by the various Episcopal Conferences. There is also a need for renewed commitment to catechists, who are often young and serving other young people, virtually their contemporaries. It is important to take sufficient care over their formation and to see that their ministry is more widely recognized by the community.