"WYD can be an opportunity"João ChagasVatican WYD official: "Young people will be more involved than in previous editions".7 things the Pope asks of you for WYD Lisbon 2023On August 3, Pope Francis met with a group of young students from the Portuguese Catholic University. The meeting was part of his agenda in the WYDW and began after the performance of a musical piece, followed by a welcoming speech given by the university's rector, Isabel Capeloa Gil.
Several students had the opportunity to offer their testimonials, based on "Laudato si'The Global Education Pact, the "Global Education Pact," the "Francisco's Economy"and the "Pope's Fund". After the speeches, the Holy Father addressed all those present.
Francis began by speaking about the figure of the pilgrim, which "literally means setting aside the daily routine and setting out on a purposeful journey, moving 'across the fields' or 'beyond the confines,' that is, out of one's comfort zone, toward a horizon of meaning."
The pilgrim is a reflection of the human condition, Francis explained. "Everyone is called to confront great questions that do not have a simplistic or immediate answer, but invite us to undertake a journey, to surpass ourselves, to go beyond." And this, which in a general way applies to everyone, can be seen especially in the life of university students.
The Pope encouraged everyone to be demanding and critical in this journey of searching that we are following. "Let us be wary of prefabricated formulas, of answers that seem to be within reach, pulled out of the sleeve like trick playing cards; let us be wary of those proposals that seem to give everything without asking for anything."
Young people searching without fear
Francis went further and called for courage in this process, recalling the words of Pessoa: "To be dissatisfied is to be man". For this reason, the Holy Father assured that "we must not be afraid of feeling restless, of thinking that what we have done is not enough. To be dissatisfied - in this sense and in its just measure - is a good antidote to the presumption of self-sufficiency and narcissism. Incompleteness defines our condition as seekers and pilgrims because, as Jesus says, 'we are in the world, but not of the world'".
The Pope stressed that restlessness should not worry us. Alarm bells should go off "when we are ready to substitute the road to travel for stopping at any oasis - even if that comfort is a mirage; when we substitute faces for screens, the real for the virtual; when, instead of questions that tear, we prefer easy answers that anesthetize."
Francis was clear in his message to young people: "In this historic moment, the challenges are enormous and the groans are painful, but let us embrace the risk of thinking that we are not in agony, but in labor; not at the end, but at the beginning of a great spectacle. Be, therefore, protagonists of a 'new choreography' that places the human person at the center, be choreographers of the dance of life".
An education that bears fruit
The Holy Father wants young people to dream and set out to bear fruit. Therefore, he said, "Have the courage to replace fears with dreams; do not be stewards of fears, but entrepreneurs of dreams!".
Francis also took the opportunity to launch a message to those in charge of education in the world. He asked that universities avoid being engaged "in training new generations only to perpetuate the current elitist and unequal system in the world, in which higher education is a privilege for a few."
The Pope placed great emphasis on pointing out that education is a gift destined to bear fruit. "If knowledge is not accepted as a responsibility, it becomes sterile. If those who have received a higher education - which today, in Portugal and in the world, continues to be a privilege - do not strive to give back something of what they have benefited from, they have not understood what has been offered to them".
For this reason, Francis affirmed that "the degree, in fact, cannot be seen only as a license to build personal well-being, but as a mandate to dedicate oneself to a more just and inclusive society, that is, a more developed one."
Young people and real progress
The Holy Father also took the opportunity to speak about the real progress the world is asking for in order to take care of our common home. "This cannot be done without a conversion of heart and a change in the anthropological vision that is at the basis of economics and politics."
But first, another step must be taken. Francis stressed "the need to redefine what we call progress and evolution". The Pope expressed his concern, because "in the name of progress, the way has been opened to a great regression". But the Pontiff warned that he has hope in young people: "You are the generation that can overcome this challenge, you have the most advanced scientific and technological instruments, but please do not fall into the trap of partial visions".
Francis asked the young university students to keep integral ecology in mind when looking for solutions. "We need to listen to the suffering of the planet alongside that of the poor; we need to put the drama of desertification in parallel with that of refugees, the issue of migrations alongside that of the declining birth rate; we need to deal with the material dimension of life within a spiritual dimension. Not to create polarizations, but rather visions of the whole".
Incarnating the Gospel
The Pope's address ended with an allusion to the faith of young people. "I would like to tell them to make faith credible through their decisions. Because if faith does not generate convincing lifestyles, it does not make the mass of the world ferment. It is not enough for a Christian to be convinced, he must be convincing."
Francis stressed that this is the responsibility of every Catholic, called to be a disciple by Baptism. "Our actions are called to reflect the beauty - at once joyful and radical - of the Gospel." And this must be achieved by recovering "the sense of incarnation. Without incarnation, Christianity becomes ideology; it is incarnation that allows us to be amazed by the beauty that Christ reveals through every brother and sister, every man and woman."
