Youth is a time of life which has to come to an end, to make way for adult life. This transition does not take place automatically, but implies a journey of maturation, not always helped by the environment in which young people live. In many regions there is a widespread culture of the provisional which favours an indefinite prolongation of adolescence and postponement of decisions; fear of the definitive thus generates a kind of paralysis of decision-making. Yet youth cannot remain on hold. It is the age of choices and herein lies its fascination and its greatest responsibility. Young people take decisions in professional, social and political fields and in other more radical ways that determine the shape of their lives. It is because of choices of this kind that one can speak more precisely of “life choices”: a young person’s life, in its unrepeatable uniqueness, is given a definitive orientation.
TheoFonsAt the sources of the faith