Young Canadian at Synod: Technology can be a tool but it’s not
everything
Emilie Callan, young Canadian auditor at Synod of Bishops. |
Emilie
Callan, a young Canadian auditor at the Synod of Bishops that young people are
on social media and that the Church should be there too.
By
Francesca Merlo
“The
fraternal atmosphere that we are experiencing here” is a quality Emilie didn’t
expect to feel at the Synod of Bishops of Young People.
She
says that as time goes by the Bishops and auditors are feeling more and more
comfortable around each other. This trait is especially visible in the small
group meetings, and she calls it “really quite beautiful”.
Free
Synod
“I’ve
experience a lot of freedom here” says Emilie, describing how open the
conversations are. She says that the Synod Fathers are “definitely” listening
to the perspective of young people. And that although in the Synod Hall it’s “a
little bit harder” and “not everybody has the chance to speak”, they are
“giving the floor to young people whenever there are free interventions”.
She
says that there is a real freedom “that that has to do a lot with the
conversations that are happening in the small working groups”. In these groups
she has been able to share “as much or as little” as she’s felt like sharing,
and “if I don’t talk for a while there is always someone to make sure to
include me in the conversation”.
Who
is Jesus?
Emilie
thinks that one of the main issues she’s seen come up at the Synod is that “a
lot of young people don’t really know who Jesus Christ is”. At times, she says,
they “might not even be interested in God”.
First,
evangelisation
She
says that what is coming out of the small groups is that “before we can talk
about anything else with them: whether that be vocation or accompaniment …. or
even dealing with other issues: young people need to be evangelized.”
According
to Emilie, there is a need for the Church to “pass on the fullness of the
Catholic faith”. It needs to happen everywhere, “continuously, in a young
person’s life and through adulthood”, she says.
Communities:
the strength of the Church
She
believes that “communities” are the best tool the Church has to offer in order
to transmit the message of the Gospel. “It’s within the community of the faith
that people have the experience of Jesus as a body” she says, stressing that
“young people can be encouraged especially when they see their peers or other
members of the community live out the fullness of the Catholic faith.
“We
need to be involved in people’s lives, be in a relationship with them and love
them, because it’s really through relationships that we can accompany and also
lead young people closer to Christ.”
Can’t
beat them? Join them.
Emilie
acknowledges that the digital age is “present” and that “we can’t really get
away from it”. She says that “we can learn to use it well and not let it be a
distraction to our relationship with others and our relationship with God”.
Social
media, according to Emilie, can definitely be “a good platform for
evangelization”. She stresses that “that is where young people are” and that
the Church and Catholics should be there too. But, she says, “it’s not enough”
and she believes other people would agree that “one-on-one relationships are
the way to go”.
“Technology
can be a tool” for evangelization, “but it’s not everything”.
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