July 17, 2006

Youth Speak Out About Future of Diocese

The saying is, “Children are our future.” Not only are they the future, they are the present and are ready and willing to take an active role in the future of their church.

During the annual Youth Convention earlier this year, youth from across the eight-county diocese met with members of the Journey in Faith and Grace Commission to discuss their concerns for the Catholic Church and the needs of youth.

“I think the strength of the Youth Congress is that it comes from the voice of young people themselves,” said Kathryn M. Goller, coordinator of youth ministry development for the diocese.

Among their concerns was the degree of involvement that the public will have in the planning process. They worry that some voices will not be heard and that the marginalized will be dismissed or devalued. They also worry that, even after the restructuring is complete, the trends that led to decreased attendance at Mass will continue.

Stephanie Arroyo, who just finished her sophomore year at Leonardo Da Vinci High School in Buffalo, was one of the 110 participants in the Youth Congress. As a member of Holy Cross Parish, Buffalo, which merged with Immaculate Conception Parish last summer, she was able to comment first hand on what things were like in her parish.

“There have been positive changes and little glitches,” she said. Reflecting on the merger, Arroyo said she was “OK with it,” and now that Masses at Holy Cross Parish are attended by people from both parishes, the “Masses are huge.”

In an executive summary detailing the youths’ concerns, it was reported that youth have several needs they want met, either in general or with respect to the potential changes in the Journey in Faith and Grace process. Those needs include feeling welcome and accepted in faith communities, being encouraged to participate more fully in faith communities, opportunities to be included in leadership and decision making and opportunities to be more involved in liturgical celebrations. They are also looking for role models and mentors as well as catechesis that is more age appropriate and applicable to daily life.

The younger generation has a lot of energy and wants to share that energy with their faith community. At the Youth Congress, they came armed with dozens of ideas to create vibrant parishes in the diocese. They touched on everything from having greeters at Mass and church social events to tithing and bible study groups.

Once the talks were completed and the data collected, a report was prepared and distributed to parishes throughout the diocese.

Daniel J. Greer, director of the Youth Department, said he had no preconceived vision of what the final report would or should look like.

“I was happy just before the Congress started because we got a bigger response than we had anticipated,” he said. “Whatever comes out of it, comes out of it. It’s information and it’s what our diocese needs to hear of what our youth are thinking. Once the results came out I was happy with them because they reiterate very strongly, but in their words, what ‘Renewing the Vision,’ the document on youth from the U.S. bishops’ conference, talks about, promoting comprehensive youth ministry and using the components of the parish to build those relationships with youth.”

For a complete report on the Youth Congress, see the Youth Department’s Web site at www.buffalodiocese.org/youth/

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