PREFACE
In his 2019 apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit (‘Christ is Alive’), Pope Francis offers a message of hope and consolation to all the faithful, with a particular focus on the young people of today and their relationship with Jesus. Speaking to the Church as a whole, he reminds us of the youthfulness that the Church should embody, while also considering how to renew youth and young adult ministry, emphasising the importance of ‘making room for young people in the Church’.
We are delighted to present to young people and all people of goodwill this IMBISA Manual for Pastoral Care of Young People. This manual should be a source of inspiration and fellowship in the pastoral care of young people, who are not only the future of the Church but also the present. It is an attempt by IMBISA to contribute to the synodal process in which Pope Francis invites the whole Church to walk together.
The manual is divided into three chapters. The first chapter addresses the difficult question of who is young; the second, in turn, presents the feelings of young people; and the third, what should be the Church’s response to the challenges that young people face.
The IMBISA Pastoral Department wishes to express its gratitude to all who assisted in the development of this manual, especially the following:
- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who provided financial assistance from their Pastoral Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.
- The participants (Appendix 1) of the Workshop on Christus Vivit that was held in June 2021 at the St. John Vianney Seminary in South Africa.
- The IMBISA Secretariat Staff for the successful implementation of this initiative.
“If the years of your youth are to serve their purpose in life, they must be a time of generous commitment, whole-hearted dedication, and sacrifices that are difficult but ultimately fruitful” (CV 108).
May God the Father, who sent his Son, Jesus Christ, the young man par excellence, to save us, bless this project and who work on it.
Fr. Rafael B. Sapato,
Coordinator of the Pastoral Department at IMBISA
Read more:👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xjR-rDlV_qLLHs6KZU2CouP55R83EYjz/view?usp=sharing