Online conference on youth rekindles their faith in Indonesia

A recent online conference on youth has boosted their faith to practice vigorously and participate in church activities in Indonesia.

The program was held to rekindle the spirit of young people in life to socialize, interact, study, pray, and promote fellowship together, which began to wane during the two years of the pandemic as no common activities were held, said In his statement, Father Frans Kristi, secretary of the Indonesian bishops’ conference – youth office said in a statement.  

As many as 214 young people took part in a conference called Christus Vivit (Christ is alive). It was meant to help them get excited about life again through socialization, communication, and praying.

The Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) through the Indonesian Catholic Charismatic Reform National Service's youth commission (BPN PKKI) organized the March 25-26 event.

The participants desired to gain knowledge of Christus Vivit's values and principles and apply them to their own lives and ministries. They represented various child groups: adolescents, students, working young adults, and young families.

Following the 2018 Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis issued an apostolic exhortation titled "Christus vivit," written in response to a Synod of Bishops meeting on youth, faith, and job choices for young people.

According to Father Kristi, many young people live in isolation and lose human interaction with their peers, who can only be seen on a computer screen or smartphone and cannot be touched.

The priest said that during pandemic times, greetings, encounters, and friendship embraces are being supplanted by short messages or emoticons that frequently fail to convey the true nature of their emotions.

Also, many things make it hard to go to school, college, or work in an all-digital environment during this chaos, said Father Kristi.

For young people, Father Kristi made it abundantly clear during the conference what the critical points of the apostolic exhortation "Christus Vivit" were for young people.

He wants these young leaders to constantly embrace, listen to, and communicate in the language of love with all young people.

Father Kristi said that young people, particularly those experiencing adversity, require creative and innovative individuals to reach them. - With inputs from Budi Sutedjo and LinkLink