“Today’s young people are looking for an authentic Church,” said a conference of 300 young people at the Vatican in March, 2018. “We want to say, especially to the hierarchy of the Church, that they should be a transparent, welcoming, honest, inviting, communicative, accessible, joyful and interactive community.”

The conference had been called to advise Catholic church leaders in preparation for a synod of bishops on youth, set for October 2018.

“The Church must involve young people in its decision-making processes and offer them more leadership roles,” say these young people.  “These positions need to be on a parish, diocesan, national and international level, even on a commission to the Vatican… We strongly feel that we are ready to be leaders.

Chiming perfectly with the Pope’s Palm Sunday call to young people to ‘cry out’ against elder inertia, the young people declare that “A common dream across continents and oceans is the desire to find a place where the young person can feel that he or she belongs …. Young people seek to engage with and address the social justice issues of our time. We seek the opportunity to work towards building a better world.”

For a full report on the conference, go to this NCR page.