Speaking during his homily at an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square that inaugurated the 3-week Synod on “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment”, His Holiness Pope Francis called on his brother bishops to heed the voices of young people in the effort to build a better world than that of their elders. The Pontiff expressed his confidence in the new generations that, he said, “are capable of prophesy and vision” and prayed that the Holy Spirit may grant synodal Fathers the grace of being anointed with the youthful “gift of dreaming and of hoping.”
As reported by Vatican news, The Pope expressed his hope that the ecclesial meeting will help broaden the horizons, expand hearts and “transform those frames of mind that today paralyze, separate and alienate us from young people” leaving them, he said, “exposed to stormy seas, orphans without a faith community that should sustain them, orphans devoid of a sense of direction and meaning in life”. The Pope reminded his fellow bishops and priests that they are called to be humble and without prejudice as they look to the interests of others: “In this spirit we will try to listen to one another, in order to discern together what the Lord is asking of his Church.”
The Pontiff concluded recalling the message of Council Fathers at the end of the Second Vatican Council when the Synod of Bishops was established.
