7th
Asian Youth Day in Indonesia in 2017
(Vatican Radio) The 7th Asian Youth Day will be held in
Indonesia in 2017. The annoucement was made by Cardinal Oswald Gracias,
Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Federation of the Asian Bishops'
Conference at the end of the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis to conclude
the 6th Asian Youth Day that has taken place in Korea.
Please find below the text of
Cardinal Gracias' address to Pope Francis during the Mass in Haemi, Korea:
Most Holy Father,
It is my privilege to convey to you the sentiments of the tens of thousands of
our youth assembled here.
How happy we felt as you led us in this concluding Eucharist of the 6th Asian
Youth day here in Daejeon, Korea. How inspired we felt with your message to us:
Asian Youth, Wake up! The glory of the martyrs shines on you! How
thrilled we are on realizing that we are entrusted with the challenge of
transforming society. How enthusiastic we feel as we carry the joy of the
Gospel to the ends of Korea, to the ends of Asia and to the ends of the world.
We have spent five days of excitement, joy and playfulness – but also of deep
prayer, serious reflection and earnest exchange. We have been awakened from the
soporific slumber that engulfed us because of certain values that infected us.
In this slumber our eyes were closed to the joy of the Gospel, our minds
clouded from seeing the beautiful vision of the Kingdom of God, and our hearts
dulled to experience the warmth of Jesus’ love for us.
But now after these five days in Daejeon we have rekindled our passion for the
Gospel, revitalized our youthful spirit, and understood more deeply our
baptismal consecration and the meaning of true discipleship.
And
so ‘No’ to an economy of exclusion, ‘No’ to an economy of selfishness, without
ethics, ‘No’ to the spirit of materialism. ‘No’, ‘No’, ‘No’. And a ‘yes’ to a
personal encounter with Jesus whom we want to carry always with us. ‘Yes’ to
the cry of the poor, the needy and the lonely and ‘yes’ to the world that
eagerly waits for us.
We leave the place with memories of Daejeon and Korea. We are grateful to you
Most Holy Father for having been a true, loving and gracious father to us.
Grateful to our leader, Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario, CSC, who guided us right
through from the preparatory stage. Grateful to the main organizer, Fr. Patrick
Gomes and his big team; Grateful to the FABC which inspired the whole Youth Day
celebration and Grateful to the Korean Church – the Bishops, Priests, Religious
and people, Grateful to our hosts, Grateful to Korea. We have been so
privileged to be here. Thank you Korea. Thank you. God bless you.
And so now we joyfully, gloriously and proudly carry the cross of Jesus
on our shoulders, in our hearts and in our lives as we march forward and
prepare to meet for the next Asian Youth Day in 2017 in Indonesia.
And so once again thank you Holy Father, thank you Korea. We love you.
Oswald Cardinal Gracias
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