There were 82 participants present at this Seminar: 21 young people, 17 experts from ecclesiastical universities, 15 experts from other universities, 20 formators and workers devoted to youth ministry and vocation awareness and 9 representatives from various organizations within the Holy See. From a geographic point of view, 52 participants were Europeans, 18 were Americans, 7 were Asiatics, 4 were Africans and there was 1 Australian. Particularly significant was the presence of young people from various geographic, socio-cultural and religious contexts who actively contributed to the study days by introducing and concluding the working sessions with their lived experiences and their reflections. Since the Seminar was also open to all those interested in the theme, there were about 50 guests, including some young people.
During the sessions, prominent authorities spoke about various themes including Youth and Identity, Youth and Planning, Youth and Other People, Youth and Technology, and Youth and Transcendence. A complete session was dedicated to each of these themes: the morning sessions were introduced by a biblical meditation, and every session was followed by a large and lively debate followed by ongoing discussion in linguistic working groups in Italian, English, French and Spanish.
The first session, which was held on Monday afternoon, opened with greetings offered by Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri and a biblical reflection offered by Father Giulio Michelini, OFM. Afterward, the assembly heard the testimonials of five young men which touched on various topics including concrete situations of waring conflicts, recovery of values, having to face day to day challenges, and remaining committed to life choices. Finally, Professor Alessandro Rosina and Professor Cecilia Costa introduced the work of the sessions.
The second session, held on the morning of Tuesday, September 12 was dedicated to the first of the themes: identity. There were two presentations: the first was entitled Young men and women today in search of an identity and was presented by Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne; the second, entitled The places that shape the identity of young people was presented by Doctor Chiara Amirante. In these contexts, various other themes were also immersed, including The importance of education in the formation of a complete identity that responds to the need for orientation and reconciliation, a concern shared by many young people.
The theme of planning was the subject of two presentations during the third session which took place that afternoon: Young people and work, presented by Professor Leonardo Becchetti; Young people and migration, presented by Professor Rosa Aparicio Gómez. From the combined work of these aspects, there came a concern about many young people who emigrate from their own countries not only because they are fleeing situations of violence and war, but also in order to build a better future which seems to be denied them in their countries of origin.
The fourth session, which took place on Wednesday morning (September 13), addressed the theme of otherness through in two presentations: Young people and social commitment, offered by Professor Alvin Ang; and Youth and political commitment, offered by Professor Angela Cristiana Calvo. It was revealed that, due to general mistrust in the world of politics, young people prefer to engage primarily at the social level in projects of solidarity.
The fifth session held on Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to the theme of technology, with two presentations: Young people and future senaria of technological development by Father Eric Salobir, OP; and Youth and the anthropological aspects of technological development, by Father Ferdinand Muhigirwa, SJ. One of the things that came to light was the relationship of young people with new media technologies which open up new horizons that, on one hand, give rise to complex problems on the level of anthropology, morality and relationships, while on the other hand offering interesting possibilities for evangelization.
Transcendence was the theme of the sixth session, held on Thursday morning, developed in two parts: Young people, the sacred and faith presented by Professor Franco Garelli; and Young people and the Church, presented by Professor María Marcela Mazzini. The presenters illustrated how research in transcendence has been experienced by young people today not only through various forms of spirituality, but also within the Church, which is open to listen to young people, in many cases presents the person of Jesus in an engaging manner.
In the seventh session, a synthesis of the work of various linguistic discussion groups was presented by Professor Eugenio Gaudio, Rector of Rome's Sapienza University of Studies who held a conference about young people and the university.
During the eighth and final session, a report was presented and prospectives were outlined in preparation for the upcoming Synod. The youth presented a video in which they synthesized their experience, which they summarized with the phrase: we are a family, let's listen to each other and grow together. From this slogan came the desire of the young people to find in the Church a home, a family and a community where they could mature in their life choices and contribute to the common good. Then, Professor Alessandro Rosina and Professor Cecilia Costa presented a general synthesis of the work, in which the premises and conditions for accompanying new generations was outlined, as well as the commitment and the desire of the Church to respond to requests from young people to be protagonists in building a better world.
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri concluded the working sessions by thanking the participants and confirming that the Church, while remaining attentive to the voices of young people, wishes to allow them to be inspired by them in view of missionary renewal as has been invoked by Pope Francis.
It should be noted that the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts used during the Seminar will remain open - available at Synod2018 - even after the work has been completed.
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