VANCOUVER, British Columbia — As parish youth coordinator at St. Matthew’s in Surrey, Eleanor Wong sees firsthand the struggles that young people have with the Church, so she’s welcoming a new pastoral letter from Canada’s bishops that tells young people they have unique contributions to make to the Church and to the world.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter to young people Oct. 12, in honor of the anniversary of the death of Blessed Carlo Acutis.
The letter addresses some of the “prominent concerns and struggles” facing young people and presents them with a vision of a church in which they can take ownership and find belonging, Wong said.
“It was good to see issues that I see in my ministry addressed in a document from Church authorities,” she told The B.C. Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. “It makes us feel heard.”
The pastoral letter was drafted by the CCCB’s Office for Evangelization and Catechesis and the Office for Family and Life at the request of the bishops’ executive committee.
The letter was released in written and video form and was the result of synodal conversations held with young people and teenagers in the fall of 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic.
The greatest fruit of those conversations was the understanding that young people want to “engage in meaningful discussions” about faith, the world and their hopes and dreams, said the bishops, who affirm young people in their desire to be heard and to have their experience and wisdom validated.
“Dialogue offers a chance to understand one another better,” says the letter. “It creates a space where the Gospel message can ignite a spark deep within our hearts and transform each of us.”
The letter places a special focus on technology and faith, noting that during COVID-19 isolation many young people were grateful for technological solutions such as livestreamed Mass and online youth group meetings, especially those with prayer and music.
While the letter notes the many ways that technology can be a “viable means to encounter Christ in others,” it doesn’t shy away from the fact that young people also reported their use of social media can be “all-consuming, meaningless and even hurtful, which leads to feelings of isolation, loneliness and diminished self-worth.”
“Even though technology is designed to bring people together, it can leave us feeling more socially isolated than ever,” the letter says.
By releasing the letter on the feast of Blessed Carlos, the bishops hope to emphasize his approach to technology as a way to address many of these concerns. Blessed Carlos was well known as an amateur programmer and enjoyed playing video games with friends and so offers a productive model for properly integrating those aspects of life in the Christian life. Most notably, Blessed Carlos created a website documenting eucharistic miracles and “used his gift with technology to evangelize and proclaim the Gospel through” the use of technology, says the letter.
The letter addresses concerns that young people have regarding mental health, including anxiety and depression, both of which the pandemic exacerbated. The bishops advise young people to speak to someone they trust when needed and to invest themselves in their communities and families.
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