AMERICA/CHILE - Three hundred young people from Concepción on a mission to share their faith and their hope

Saturday, 15 February 2020 youth   local churches   pope francis   missionary animation  

Concepción (Agenzia Fides) - About 300 young people from the Chilean Archdiocese of Concepción carried out summer missions in various communities in January and February, in support of the pastoral action that takes place throughout the year. In this way they wanted to respond to what Pope Francis asked them in his Apostolic Exhortation "Christus vivit", where he encourages young people to be courageous missionaries: "Young people are called to be witnesses of the Gospel wherever they find themselves, by the way they live... Learn to swim against the tide, learn how to share Jesus and the faith he has given you" (nn.175-176).
As the note of the Episcopal Conference sent to Fides informs, many rural and urban areas, such as the prison of Arauco or the Isla de Chiloé and the Isla de Santa María, have been touched by the enthusiasm and joy of the young missionaries, who did everything they could to give their testimony. In the days of the mission, the young people visited each house in the sector entrusted, organized several meetings with the local community, in an atmosphere of great fraternity and spiritual fervor, with the celebration of the Eucharist as the main moment of each day.
The vicar of the Youth Ministry of the Archdiocese of Concepción, Father Víctor Álvarez, commented: "taking responsibility for their mission, in the Church and in the social context in which we live as a nation, the young people went to share their faith and their hope in every mission area". Each mission area could count on the support of some priests and religious women, engaged in the various sectors of pastoral care and in different places, thus strengthening the spiritual dimension and the encounter with Jesus Christ as the foundation of all that was accomplished in those days. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 15/2/2020)


Share: