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Adaba (Agenzia Fides) – More than a hundred young people from the communities of the Apostolic Prefecture of Robe took part in the First Youth Festival organized at the Pastoral Centre of Adaba. In an interview with Fides Agency, Father Stefano Ferraretto, missionary and Director of the Center, recounted and described the emotions of this first big encounter.
"At the beginning of June, while we were celebrating the eve of Pentecost, we celebrated the First Youth Festival animated by the theme proposed by Pope Francis for World Youth Day in Lisbon: 'Mary got up and left in haste'. We gathered about a hundred young people, mainly Catholics, but also Orthodox and Protestants who came from the communities of Robe, Goba, Adaba, Dodola, Kokossa, Kofele and the newest one from Gode Neghelli", says the missionary, who is a fidei donum priest of the diocese of Padua. "Among the initiatives proposed, we held catechesis meetings, donated T-shirts symbolising WYD, organized theatrical performances with theme songs and dances".
"It was the first time that our young people, aged between 13 to 30, heard about World Youth Day and it was a grace to see their joyful reactions. The Ethiopian Catholic Church is a young Church and young people live it with great enthusiasm and participation".
Father Stefano concluded his testimony by talking about the formation courses, also in preparation for WYD, which will be organized for different age groups and at different times during the month of August. "From August 1 to 4 we will follow young people aged 13 to 16, then another training session from August 25 to 29 for young people aged 25 to 30. We would also like to show them relevant videos and we hope to be able to do this". (SF/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 21/7/2023)
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