Pope: help young Filipinos to seek God and not the glamour of consumerism
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The "glamour" of our world "can not satisfy the desire for happiness of the young" and "only Only true friendship with God will break the bonds of loneliness from which our fragile humanity suffers and will establish a true and lasting communion with others". The churches’ concern towards the younger generation in
the Philippines today, who face not only the problems related to development, but also the challenge of secularism was the focus of Benedict XVI’s address to the bishops of that country at the end their five-yearly "ad Limina" visit.
"While - he said - the Philippines continues to face many challenges in the area of economic development, we must recognize that these obstacles to a life of happiness and fulfilment are not the only stumbling blocks that must be addressed by the Church. Filipino culture is also confronted with the more questions inherent to the secularism, materialism, and consumerism of our times".
Hence the Pope’s particular recommendation to focus on evangelisation. In this task, he stressed, "that new initiatives in evangelization will only be fruitful if, by the grace of God, those proposing them are people who truly believe and live the message of the Gospel themselves" "This - he added – is surely one of the reasons why basic ecclesial communities have had such a positive impact throughout the country." "When formed and guided by people whose motivating force is the love of Christ, these communities have proven themselves to be worthy tools of evangelization as they work in conjunction with local parishes."
In a Church that while continuing to grow needs a greater number of priests, finally, Benedict XVI urged the pastoral care of young people that "leads to the primacy of God in their hearts, tends inherently to result not only in vocations to Christian marriage but also in plentiful callings of all kinds".
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10/08/2005
