Salesian Groups Organize Events for Youth Participating in World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal

(Vatican News Network)The World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from August 1-6. The Salesian group, which has provided protection and reception services to young people in need since 1945, is working with young people to prepare for World Youth Day. Speaking to Vatican Radio-Vatican News about the excitement of the youth who will be participating in WYD, Father Cimini, a youth community educator of Fr Bosco in Rome, Italy, said, “I think of one of the young people who believed He did not hesitate to make his classmates and their families understand the importance of this activity.”

Fifty young people from the youth community of Fr. Bosco signed up for the World Youth Day event. From September last year to May this year, the community organized many activities for the youth who will participate in the World Youth Day, including self-funding. To the astonishment of educators, the initiative had unexpected results, even among youth who did not participate in WYD. According to Fr Chimini, “young people feel personally involved and realize that everything they do is for a purpose that is not only relevant to them, but also a real experience”, both at the level of the community and at the level of faith superior.

In addition to self-financing, the Salesian groups in Rome are dedicated to the education of young people in the run-up to World Youth Day. Father Chimini will also travel to Lisbon with these young people. Recounting an incident that took place at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus near Rome’s central station, he said, “We shared a moving moment of prayer with young people from Rome and Lazio who will be participating in the World Youth Day. The prayer event is in progress. at the altar of Our Lady of the Help of the Church”. According to the priest, this is also an indication, because the theme of the World Youth Day in Lisbon will also revolve around the image of Mary.

Pope Francis, in a video message greeting those young people who had signed up, encouraged them to look forward to those days, “because at events like World Youth Day one grows a lot”. The Pope said, “The Church has the power of youth. For this, go forward!” On this point, Fr. Chimini said, “If I think of ‘hope’, besides Jesus Christ, I think of Youth. If I were to find a synonym for ‘hope,’ all I could think of was ‘youth'”. “I am convinced that youth are like sponges, absorbing everything that happens around them, so I believe in educating them with the times until they are capable of bringing to the surface all the good things that exist in the world.”

Finally, Father Chimini also mentioned the importance of dialogue with young people. “Sometimes it feels like they don’t pay much attention to what you’re saying, but in fact, when you’re having a serious conversation, you realize how much of what you said earlier is in their mind,” he says.

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