Between 5 and 9th April, the meeting “From Krakow to Panama – The Synod on the Way with the Young People” is been held in Rome, organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. The meeting aims to collect the pastoral fruits of the last WYD, held in Krakow, Poland, on July 2016. An evaluation of various aspects of the previous WYD will be done in order to prepare the responsible for the Youth Day in the dioceses of the world and within the Missionaries Communities and Ecclesial Movements.
Two days of the meeting will be devoted to study the preparatory document for the next Synod of Bishops, 2018, which will focus on the theme “Young people, Faith and vocational discernment”. The event has about 300 participants, delegates from 100 countries of the world, from all continents. Each episcopal conference and each Movement or Community sent delegates, young people, priests and lay people to the meeting to carry forward the way how the dioceses will prepare the young people for their participation in the WYDs. The delegates will be heard during the meeting, so that the Dicastery can continue its journey of preparation for the next WYDs and can collect the various experiences of the evangelization of young people in the world, in order to mature the ongoing synod works until 2018.
The meeting was opened by His Eminence, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the new Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. “We have to carry on the torch that St. John Paul II lit,” said the Cardinal, referring to the mission of the Church to continue carrying out and maturing the experience of the World Youth Days.The moderator and coordinator of the event is Father John Wilkes Chagas, who is in charge of the “Youth” Section of the Dicastery, he is a member of the Shalom Catholic Community.
The delegates of Shalom Catholic Community are Father Cristiano Pinheiro, International Assistant to the General Moderator , Vitor Aragão, Coordinator of the Youth Assistance, responsible for the animation and accompaniment of all young people of Shalom Work, and Erick Vianna, future responsible for the mission of Shalom Community, in Panama City, home of the next World Youth Day in January of 2019.
It is very important to collect the spiritual inheritance left to us by the last WYD. The Journey of Krakow, held during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, was a true blow of the Holy Spirit that renewed in us the experience of the Divine Mercy, restoring us to a new time of mission … mission of Mercy in the heart of the world. Says Father Christiano.
“Here we also see the Church on the way to the Synod of Bishops on Youth, and this path is not done without the young people. The young people will build this Synod together with their pastors, “says Vitor Aragão.
“For us who are going to work at the COL of WYD in Panama, this meeting is a great opportunity for, together with our bishop Msg. José Ulloa, to evaluate how we can give to the young people in Panama a great personal encounter with Christ through the hands of the Virgin Mary. It is also a beautiful experience of communion with all nations in a common goal: the evangelization of the young people! “Says Erick Vianna.