VATICAN - Young people of Luanda, "all together and with all young people, let us go out to bring the joy of the Gospel"

Viana (Agenzia Fides) - On the afternoon of Saturday 17 November, Cardinal Fernando Filoni met the youth of the Ecclesiastical Province of Luanda in the Cathedral of the diocese of Viana, as part of his pastoral visit to Angola and São Tomé (see Fides 09/11/2018).
"Dear young people - the Cardinal said - after having participated in the Synod dedicated to you in October, I am very happy to be with you here in the Cathedral of Viana. Being close to the capital of the country, all the young people of Angola are represented here. Thank you for your presence and your warm welcome! His Holiness, Pope Francis, sends you his blessings and has you in his heart and in his prayer".
In his speech to the young, Cardinal Filoni focused on tracing the fundamental features of the "young missionary disciples" according to the thought of Pope Francis, who proposes two fundamental inner movements of our heart: "to be attracted" to Christ and "to be sent" by Him, to be authentic "missionary disciples". At the basis of everything, therefore, there is an encounter with Christ, in personal and community prayer, in the prolonged and profound meditation of the word of God, in participation in the Eucharist and reconciliation.
The young missionary disciple is therefore the one who "goes out" with the Gospel in the streets, heading towards the geographical and existential peripheries, to bring everyone he meets the joy of the Gospel. It is he who knows how to witness love, thus contributing to creating a "culture of communion, unity and reconciliation".
Another aspect that characterizes him is knowing how to discern the priorities of his life, renouncing things that would be more pleasant but are not the most important in the scale of values, and some aspects of culture and modernity which are contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. To do this, a complete and adequate religious formation is necessary, and for this purpose the Cardinal invited young people to participate in the various apostolic movements, to which many young Angolans already adhere. Finally, the Prefect of the Missionary Dicastery said: "Dear young people, I would like to end this conversation, being sure that all together and with all young people, we are ready to go out and bring the joy of the Gospel to all men of good will". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 19/11/2018)

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