Pope Francis tells young people: Stand for what you believe in

Pope Francis delivers his message during his weekly general audience in St.Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday urged young people not to allow themselves to be silenced and to stand up for what they believe in, a day after more than a million people in the United States took part in student-led protests demanding tighter gun control.

“Dear young people, you have it in you to shout,” the Pontiff told the traditional Palm Sunday Mass on Saint Peter’s Square, which this year coincides with World Youth Day.

While the Pope was not talking about the US protests and made no reference to them in his address, his comments came just a day after huge gun control rallies were staged all across the United States.

“It is up to you not to keep quiet,” Francis told young people.

“Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders, so often corrupt, keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out?” he added.

Silencing the young

The Pope said that the temptation had always been there to silence young people.

There were “many ways to silence young people and make them invisible,” he said.

“Many ways to anesthetize them, to make them keep quiet, ask nothing, question nothing. There are many ways to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive,” he added.

But he pointed to a passage in the Bible where Jesus had been asked to rebuke his disciples for speaking out against injustice.

The Pope quoted Jesus’ reply, saying “‘If these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’”

“Please, make that choice, before the stones themselves cry out,” he urged young people.

The “March for Our Lives” protests across the United States on Saturday were spearheaded by survivors of a shooting in a Florida high school last month where 17 people were killed. (See story on Page A7.)

More transparent Church

Young Catholics told the Vatican on Saturday they wanted a more transparent and authentic Church, where women played a greater leadership role and where obeying “unreachable” moral standards wasn’t the price of admission.

In a fascinating final document from a weeklong Vatican-initiated conference, 300 young people from around the world joined by 15,000 young people online gave the older men who run the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church a piece of their collective mind.

They urged Pope Francis and the bishops who would gather at the Vatican in the fall to back their recommendations that Church leaders must deal with the unequal roles of women in the Church and how technology was being used and abused.

‘Excessive moralism’

They warned that “excessive moralism” was driving the faithful away and that out-of-touch Church bureaucrats needed to accompany their flock with humility and transparency.

“We, the young church, ask that our leaders speak in practical terms about subjects such as homosexuality and gender issues, about which young people are already freely discussing,” they said.

Among the participants, however, there was no consensus on hot-button issues, such as Church teaching on contraception, homosexuality, abortion or cohabitation.

The document said some young people wanted the Church to change its teaching or better explain it, while others accepted the teachings and wanted the Church to proclaim them more forcefully.

But overall, the young people concluded, the Church often comes off as too severe and its “excessive moralism” often sends the faithful looking elsewhere for peace and spiritual fulfillment.

“We need a Church that is welcoming and merciful, which appreciates its roots and patrimony and which loves everyone, even those who are not following the perceived standards,” they said.

The 300 young people who attended the conference were mostly selected by their national bishops’ conferences, universities or Church movements.

Non-Christian participants

A handful of non-Catholics and non-Christians, as well as some atheists, also participated, and their views were incorporated into the final document.

Their reflections were to be formally presented to Francis on Sunday—Palm Sunday
—and would become one of the working documents that would guide discussions during an October synod of bishops at the Vatican on better helping young people find their way in the Church.

On four separate occasions in the 16-page document, the participants demanded greater and equal roles for women in the Church, calling for “real discussion and open-mindedness” about ways to promote the dignity of women so they feel accepted and appreciated. —Reports from AFP and AP