Vatican
City, 31 January 2013
(VIS) – The annual Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for
Culture was presented in a conference this morning in the Press
Office of the Holy See. This year's plenary will be dedicated to the
theme "Emerging Youth Cultures" and will take place from 6
to 9 February. Participating in the conference were Cardinal
Gianfranco Ravasi and Bishop Carlos Alberto de Pinho Moreira Azevedo,
respectively president and delegate of that dicastery, along with Fr.
Enzo Fortunato, O.F.M. Conv., director of the Sacred Convent of Saint
Francis Press Office in Assisi and two youth representatives: Alessio
Antonielli of Italy and Farasoa Mihaja Bemahazaka of Madagascar.
In
an address presenting the event that was given a few days ago at the
Convent of St. Francis in Assisi, Cardinal Ravasi said that its main
area of interest would be "youth culture". "Walking
down the streets with their ears blocked up with earphones, listening
to their music, gives a sign that they are 'disconnected' from the
unbearable social, political, and religious complexities that we
adults have created. In a certain sense, they drop their gaze so as
to exclude themselves because we have excluded them with our
corruption and inconsistency, with uncertainty, unemployment, and
marginalization. We parents, teachers, and priests, the ruling class,
we must examine our conscience. The 'diversity' of youth, which in
fact is not only negative, contains surprising seeds of fruitfulness
and authenticity. We need only think of the choice to volunteer made
by many young persons or their passion for music, sports, and
friendship, which is their ways of telling us that man does not live
by bread alone. We need only think of their spirituality, which is so
original in its sincerity, or their freedom, which is hidden under a
blanket of seeming indifference."
"For
these and for many other reasons," concluded the president of
the Pontifical Council for Culture, "I am interested in the
youth, who are the present (not only the future) of humanity. Of the
five billion people living in developing countries, more than half
are under the age of 25 (representing 85% of all the youth in the
world). That is why, leaving aside the ever-necessary objective
socio-psychological analysis of faith on the young, that is, the
meaning of religious presence to them, we would rather focus on their
faith, that is, trusting in their possibilities, even if they are
buried underneath those differences that, at first glance, cause such
an striking impression."
Bishop
Avezedo, during his address at the press conference, laid out the
plenary's program, clarifying that its objective is "to
objectively enquire into the new, complex, and fragmented phenomenon
of youth cultures with the help of experts and listening to the
thoughts of the members and consultors of the Pontifical Council for
Culture. Only the opening ceremony will be open to the public. It
will be held in the Aula Magna of the LUMSA University and will have
the novelty of a short rock concert preceding the first conference.
The work document sent to all participants clarifies our perspective
of cultural analysis of the transformations in adolescents and young
adults who are questioning the practices of evangelisation."
"A
few days ago," he commented, "the International Labour
Organization said that 73.8 million young persons in the world are
seeking employment and that there will be half a million more by
2014. This information raises a series of questions: Is there a
distrust of government? Is there a fear of the future? Will the youth
take to the streets in protest? Does the myth of eternal youth reveal
a lack of value of adults?" In this context, and after the
assembly takes an overall look at the situation, the program will
focus on some of the most salient and wide-reaching cultural features
such as how the "digital culture revolutionizes the model and
the grammar of communications". The structures and rituals of
this language, just like the importance of music, meeting places,
etc. … All those questions that "require discernment on the
part of the Church and a profound change in language and the creation
of codes in which the Christian vision might be meaningful."
Other topics for discussion will be the "emotional alphabet"
of the youth, the value of the body, friendship networks, and the
delay in attaining self-sufficiency.
The
following day, three young adults from different continents will
reflect on the reasons for having confidence in the youth. Despite
the fear of the future and the worsening of economic conditions,
there are "potentials, an incredible creativity, a spirit of
volunteering that is full of altruism, … and answers to the
questions of meaning and hope."
The
next topic to be dealt with will be that of "generating the
faith, which we have called the 'cultural battle'. Effectively,"
Bishop Avezedo said, "that means that creating conditions that
make meeting Christ possible have to have a cultural as well as a
pastoral and theological focus. The fatigue, and at times failure, of
ecclesial practices that widen the gap between young persons and the
Church needs to be understood. Also, the rates of being born into the
faith are low. Adult generations either do not know how or do not
have time to deal with their own faith or to generate the faith in
their children."
"The
audience with the Holy Father at the beginning of the plenary meeting
will be a major incentive for the assembly. For 2,000 years, the
Church hasn't had a predetermined artistic style or a predefined
language. She looks to the person and the message of Jesus to
communicate in these totally 'multi-verse' times. Emerging youth
cultures reveal the vulnerability, the insecurity, and the fragility
of repetitive formulas. The Pontifical Council for Culture's
promising assembly frees us from superficiality and apathy and is
unafraid of confronting the truth of cultural situations."
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