A Vatican official challenged the Catholic Church in Asia to lead the Universal Church’s efforts in evangelizing the youth.
“The Church [in Asia] can be a powerful laboratory for experimenting with the pastoral strategies intended to evangelize young people and form them as missionary disciples,” said Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops.
On January 19, the Maltese prelate delivered the keynote address for the Philippine Conference for New Evangelization (PCNE) in Manila. Members of the clergy, consecrated people, and laity from across the country attended the event.
Cardinal Grech stressed that Asians must take the initiative in reaching out to young people since their continent “radiantly represents the Church’s youthful face.”
“According to the Asian Continental Assembly report, young people make up 65% of the general population in Asia,” the cardinal revealed. “The youth population in Asia is still steadily increasing.”
The cardinal emphasized that South Korea will host the next World Youth Day in 2027, marking the event's return to Asia after a three-decade absence.
In line with this, Cardinal Grech said that every local church needs better engagement with young people, as they are the ones who embody the Church’s youthfulness.
“They do this through their openness, sincerity, generosity,... ardor and enthusiasm. Perhaps even their willingness to make a mess and shake things up,” he explained.
“We need to learn how to respond to their needs from young people themselves. Especially, we need to listen to them,” he also said.
When the Synod reconvenes and concludes this October, Cardinal Grech expects deeper reflections and approaches.
The Office for the Promotion of the New Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Manila organized the PCNE in its tenth year.
It started in 2013 as the brainchild of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Manila’s former archbishop and currently Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization. - Luke Godoy
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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