"What changed my life at WYD was having an encounter with Christ."Francis unites the evangelization of St. Francis Xavier to his prayerFrom February 25 and for twelve weeks, until April 25, a social campaign will be carried out to rediscover the timeliness of the apostolic exhortation that Pope Francis addressed to young people five years ago, Christus Vivitsigned on March 25, 2019 at the Marian shrine of Loreto.
That document marked the conclusion of the 2018 Synod of Bishops, dedicated to the theme of youth and which had involved them personally through representation in the Assembly Hall.
The current social campaign, which also aims to keep alive the experience of the World Youth Day -The last one took place in Lisbon in August last year and was launched by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life and involves a group of young communicators participating in the project "Faith Communication in the Digital World".
It is no coincidence that the channels used for this initiative are the official Facebook and Instagram accounts of World Youth Day, initially opened in 2011 with World Youth Day in Madrid, and managed from time to time by the local organizing committees with the support of young volunteers who contribute ideas and content between WYD events. To date, the English Facebook account has more than 2 million followers, with hundreds of thousands of users spread across 20 other languages.
"Alive"
The campaign launched by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life focuses on the key word "alive" and, through motivational videos, calls to action and commitment, aims to preserve the essence of WYD also online, involving those who have already participated in previous World Youth Days, their animators, pastoral leaders, following the invitation of Pope Francis to be fruitful "in God's today", which can also be the digital space.
The initiative is translated into several languages and is also open to other ecclesiastical entities that wish to reach young people through social media with a spiritual message, as is the case of the project "Faith Communication in the Digital World", born within the Dicastery for Communication.
"Christus Vivit".
The Pope's letter to young people, "Christus Vivit", is a strong proclamation of hope, and urges his interlocutors to keep a young heart by following the example of several witnesses who by approaching Jesus were able to discover the secret of eternal life.
Youth - the Pope encourages - must be lived as a gift from God to be fully appreciated and lived, for example through social commitment, contact with the poor and friendship with Christ as fundamental elements for growth and maturity.
In "Christus Vivit" there is also great confidence on the part of the Pope himself and of the Church towards young people, who are invited not to give up their dreams and to renew their spiritual and apostolic ardor, in order to confirm themselves as bearers of hope and change in society.
