Of over 1.5 million youths that will be leaving for Poland from world countries to take part in the World Youth Day (Krakow, July 15-31), 5 thousand will be arriving from the land of birth of Pope Francis. As many as 2,500 youths will be arriving from Buenos Aires and the surrounding districts, while another 2,500 from inland areas of the country, most of them from the provinces of Cordoba, San Luis, San Juan, Mendoza, Entre Rios, Corrientes and Neuquen. The bishops of Quilmes, Monsignor Carlos Jose Tissera, and San Martin, Monsignor Guillermo Rodriguez Melgarejo, will accompany them and support them in their Jubilee pilgrimage from the “land at in the new world” to the distant “city of mercy” (Krakow). The young Argentines, guided by the theme “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy”, have been preparing for the meeting with the merciful Jesus in the same place where He was revealed to Sister Faustina Kowalska since the WYD in Rio (in 2013).
Christian way of life. Msgr. Carlos Jose Tissera, engaged in the process of revitalization of the youth pastoral ministry in Argentina, gave us an insight into the beautiful climate characterizing the “preparation” of the heart and the of faith for the WYD by Argentine priests with local youths. “The first time I met Pope Francis, in January 2015, I asked him what he wanted us to focus on in our accompaniment of young people. He replied that we had to return to the themes of each WYD: the Beatitudes. I think that Francis wishes youths to see
the heart of the Gospel.
Like Jesus, Pope Francis wants the Christian way of life to be known”, said Msgr. Tissera. He added: this is both “a message for the Church and for all people of good will. If we look at the narration of the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew, we will see Jesus looking at the large crowd of people following him, seated on the mount near his disciples. His teachings stems from the heart, full of mercy for his people. Even though the disciples surround him, Jesus feels close to the crowd, he knows the faces of each one of them. He saw their poverty, suffering, tiredness, fears, desires and hopes. To these people Jesus proposes a simple way of living based on mercy, docility, for justice and peace, renouncing mundane accolades. Jesus proposes a form of happiness that is not the happiness offered by the world. It’s a different form of happiness. This is what Francis wants to communicate to us, surrounded by young people. His message is an appeal to the whole of humanity and to all Christian faithful.”
The significance of “making noise.” Since their return from the WYD in Rio, Argentine youths have understood that Francis’ invitation to “make noise” is connected to the idea of an “outgoing Church”, and that “starting” from themselves to “go” and evangelize is the characterizing style of the Pope, to which he bears witness by “going” towards the people. In fact all efforts undertaken by Argentine youth pastoral ministry has been permeated by the “the smell of the sheep” requested by the Pope to the shepherds in order to help youths “put Christ” into their lives.
“Young people have been invited by Francis to ‘make noise’, and they returned with a mission: to renew our local Churches, starting with the bishops”, remarked Msgr. Tissera. He added: “In every diocese they started to understand the importance and the beauty of working with young people from other dioceses, from other regions of the Country.
In the region of Buenos Aires, for example, it appeared necessary to organize another WYD at regional level. The Regional Youth Day 2014 was organized in Buenos Aires (JRJ) as a result, attended by over 15 thousand young people from 11 dioceses in the region.
The event required approximately two years of preparations and the revitalization of youth pastoral ministry in every diocese.” The fruit of these efforts is also the Regional Youth Day, held past April (the “JRJ 2016”).
“The commitment continues after the WYD in Krakow”… “The Argentine Episcopal Conference – Tissera said – has in fact decided
to hold the National Youth Meeting in October 2017
in Rosario, in the district of Santa Fe. Such meeting is being held again for the first time since 1985. It is more than an event. In fact it is the fruit of the work carried out by youth pastoral ministry in Argentina – in the framework of a process of growth –notably after the V General Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM), held in Aparecida in 2007. On that occasion the clergy invited all the people of God to fulfill an important mission at continental level: a new Pentecost to go out in search of those who are distant and of those who don’t know Jesus. They also renewed the preferential option for the young.”
True missionary disciples. In a few days, young people from Argentina will have the possibility of seeing their beloved Francis addressing them from the windows of the archbishopric in Krakow, where Saint John Paul II used to greet the faithful every time he returned to Poland. With no doubt, those who will be in Poland and those who will remain in Argentina will pray for Francis and they will also pray to become – said Msgr. Tissera – “true missionary disciples of Jesus among the youths and the seeds of a more just society based on solidarity, in Argentina and in Latin America.” In the awareness, despite their young age, that “the missionary disciple is not in the centre but in the peripheries”, and that “the centre is Jesus Christ, who calls us and sends us to reach out to existential peripheries.”
