The Youths are the Present and Future of the Church... Is Anyone Listening to Them?
General Coordinator of the National Committee for Youth Pastoral Affairs in Lebanon, Lawyer Roy Jreish:
“We must infiltrate the world of the youths to bring them closer to Jesus Christ”
“Walking together means talking, Praying, and working together...”
Report by Elia Nasrallah
Translation by Mary Yahchouchy
In the midst of a world embedded with wars, conflicts, hate speeches, violence and hatred... and an age tainted with crises and endless conflicts, even after the outbreak of a deadly pandemic... It may be surprising for a young person to say: "We are the Church." He says it with straight faith, despite him living in a society that accuses and condemns the youth drowning them in a whirlpool of despair and anxiety... Some consider young people not qualified or ready to build a better future, some see them as a source of deviation and extremism... And some think they’re distant from Church, Prayer, and hope...
But hey! Has anyone ever asked them about their needs and worries? did anyone look into the role of the Church towards them? The youths today, especially in the Middle East, live with a fundamental dilemma of an uncertain future. Do they consider the Church a safe haven for them? These were the questions we asked them, amidst daily deteriorating living conditions.
Peter Mahfouz
General coordinator of Caritas Youth Lebanon and member of the Youth Committee of the Secular Apostolic Council in Lebanon Peter Mahfouz says that our youths are part of our society and are going through what we are. “We face many difficulties, such as the worsening economic and social crises in the country, and they negatively affect our lives. Some youths are unable to finish their studies as they need to devote time to work and secure a steady income for themselves and their families... Some have lost their source of income, and others are unable to find jobs... Some even tend to resort to immigration, a recent dangerous phenomenon."
Peter considers that the Church plays a major role during the circumstances we live in, whether directly or through its affiliated institutions, such as Caritas Lebanon, for example. The Church motivates young people to persevere in work, in agriculture for example, as it provided Caritas with agricultural lands to implement agricultural projects. On one hand, it allows young people to secure an income, and on the other, it provides people with food at low prices. He said: "The Church supports us on many levels in all the projects we intend to implement and all our new ideas, but in the end, it cannot play the role of the government in securing all the needs of citizens."
Jamil Kassab
Head of the Youth Fraternity of the Virgin Mary in Lebanon and member of the Youth Committee of the Secular Apostolic Council Jamil Kassab believes that the Church has become the only hope for young people today. He says: “We are the Church, and we never asked for anything, but we hope that it would support us more in order to achieve our apostolic work, especially since we are volunteers and our duty and mission include all parishes, here and all over the country.” Jamil also stressed on the immigration challenge they face as youths today: "We are losing bright people who resort to immigration in the search of better living conditions and to secure a decent livelihood."
Youths, an Integral Part of the Church
The Ecclesiastical commitment of youths today remains threatened by the wave of development and globalization that developed over the years, but also by the negative and tensed atmosphere that surrounds them. Are there incentives the Church could adopt to preserve the presence of young people under its wings? How could it stand by them? What are the duties of the Youth Committee of the Apostolic Secular Council in Lebanon? The General Coordinator of the National Committee for Youth Pastoral Affairs in Lebanon, Lawyer Roy Jreish answered all these questions in an interview with the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches.
Lawyer Roy Jreish
First, Jreish describes the concept of commitment: “it is different from what it was years ago, it lies today in how young people live their faith experience in parallel with the crises surrounding us through the practice of religious rituals and rites, for example, personal commitment to reading the Bible, and ways of facing different challenges... Therefore, commitment varies from one person to another, but the most important thing is for the young person to go into a retrospection and re-evaluate the course of his life and his commitment, depending on his adherence to hope derived from his daily personal encounter with Jesus Christ.
We ask Jreish about the reasons that hinder the Ecclesiastical commitment of young people, and he answers that it is better to present what we offer them to preserve their presence in the heart of the Church, as they are an integral part of the Church, they are the Church itself. However, we cannot consider the youths today as the future of the Church. His Holiness Pope Francis says that the youths are its present, and this is what he emphasizes on in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit” or “Christ is Alive”. “We are the Church’s present and according to this present the future will be formed.” He continues, “We have relied on the concept of the National Committee for Youth Pastoral as a compass for our work with the youths during this period. Our duty as a committee is to base our work on the ideas and perceptions that His Holiness Pope Francis talks about, to become a youthful and attractive Church.”
Attorney Roy Jreish adds: “Today, we have to know ways to convey the word of life to young people and how to truly testify for Jesus Christ in ways that attract them to the Church, and not the other way around. This is not only a job for metropolitans, priests, officials and holders of Ecclesiastical ranks, but also the duty of young people themselves. They play the most important part today."
On the role of the Church in accompanying the youths, Jreish points out: “It is necessary, first, to return to the true testimony of Jesus Christ and be renewed in it to be true witnesses. We cannot address them in a language different from their own, so as not to lose contact with them and their cooperation. Therefore, we must infiltrate their world to bring them closer to the world of Jesus Christ. We have to communicate with them in a way that is similar to their lifestyle and refrain from adopting outdated methods."
Jreish adds with great hope: "We could also share our experiences of Christian faith and testimony to transmit the teachings of Christ to others. This lies in joy that distinguishes our Christian vocation. The more we are filled with joy, the closer we are to Jesus Christ, because it is with joy and our discovery of the true faith that we radiate through the young people in our Church to the whole world. The free love we received gives us the meaning and the primary vocation of our life, and this is what complements and embodies commitment.”
Lawyer Jarish stresses that “accompaniment is very necessary and requires listening, especially to the needs and concerns of young people, as we can have several dialogues with them to hear what they suffer from, for example, away from sermons and statements… that do not benefit them with any tangible result. Therefore, we need today in the Church to Who accompanies the youth and stands by them, and this is what the Synod stresses, that we walk together, that is, that we listen to each other, debate, Pray and work together... This partnership lies in the tasks of the National Committee for Youth Pastoral care, with the aim of thinking and working together and with the youth. So that we can provide answers that will benefit them for a better reality and a more brilliant image of our Church, which we hope will be strict in the youth structure, because today without the youth there is no Church.”
What are the tasks of the National Committee for Youth Pastoral care in Lebanon?
Jreish explains: "the main objective of the existence of the APECL Jeune National Committee for Youth in Lebanon lies in coordinating and creating networks of communication between all youth committees and offices, youth movements and organizations in all Catholic Churches in Lebanon, our duty was to spread the teachings of the Catholic Church and prepare youths for national and international holidays. The initiative was recently launched through a meeting with my guide and officials of the patriarchal youth offices, after organizing a retreat with them and appointing me as Coordinator and Father Charbel Daccach as National Guide. We met with them and agreed on a new institutional mechanism and structure for this committee.”
He continues: "The second step was defining the structures and rules for forming the committee. We chose to include representatives from all Catholic Churches. We are in the process of preparing the internal system to ensure the continuity of our work, if we succeeded. Many national apostolic societies and movements working in more than one parish and scout movement also joined the committee.”
“The third step was the invitation to a general meeting in the patriarchal edifice in Bkerke, Lebanon, under the patronage and presence of His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, President of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs, where the work of the committee and the plan it set was launched as well as the dynamics of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit”. During the meeting, the youths embarked on intellectual preoccupations for dialogue and exchange of ideas on how to transform the exhortation into practical initiatives, and many of them had recommendations.”
Roy Jreish concluded by referring to the issue of immigration: “Everyone calls on young people today to stay in their homeland, but I tell them not to be afraid of immigration, because it may present you with new opportunities. In many cases, the presence of young people outside Lebanon benefits their homeland, even from a distance. It doesn’t matter where we are, what matters is what we offer our homeland. It is necessary to maintain hope, for as Christians, the homeland is not just geography, but where we see ourselves near Jesus Christ.”
Finally, he advises the youths: “Before making such a decision, start with a retrospection to understand this will, and let the Bible be your constant companion. Let us abandon all traditions that prevent us from living the truth of our Christian faith and return to its foundation and essence, Jesus Christ, always present in our lives. Failure is part of our plan towards success, so we must not be afraid of it, because we live and act through the power of the Spirit and the Prayer of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church."
Communication and Public Relations Department
