The Youth's Search for a Home in the Church a Pastoral Challenge In The Church's Mission to the Youth
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Date
2001-02
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
In the encyclical on the Mission of the Church, Redemptoris Missio, Pope John Paul IT
includes the young in the list of priority issues of mission ad gentes. Mission to the youth of
this "New worlds and new social phenomena" is being carried out in a "complex and
changing reality2 and there are more than enough signs suggesting that the youth lack
Christian communities that are sufficiently mature to help them live their full potential.
Many youth in the Church need "re-evangelisation" or "new-evangelisation" because,
although baptised, they have either not yet developed or have lost a living sense of their faith
and they truly live a life far removed from Christ and from his Gospel? The Church has "not
yet taken root in the youth." And, the culture of the youth has "not yet been influenced by the
Gospel."4 Hence, the youth are still searching for a home in the Church.
The urgency of mission to the youth cannot be ignored because both the present and
the future of the Church belong to them. On the other hand, the youth, besides having special
needs and requiring special approaches they have the right to know God and what He has
done for them and for all in and through Christ.'
Description
Keywords
Youth, Church, Pastoral