2012-03-02 12:26:44

IEC2012: Go be Church, Ireland tells youth


“I think young people will come if they realise that it is an event that will take a very important place in their lives and that they won’t be the same after”, says Belgian native Francois-David Freschi. No, he's not talking about World Youth Day, he's talking about the oldest global gathering of Catholics, the International Eucharistic Congress, which is taking place in Dublin, Ireland in June.

And this young Belgian lay man is tasked with a difficult job. He is , Youth Officer, in charge of mobilising participation at the Congress among the 17 – 25 age group. This is a challenge in the Irish Catholic Church of today that has lost one if not two generations. In fact, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has often said that his greatest pastoral concern is the “rift between the Church and young people”.

This, he says, is why the Irish Church is targeting the young. For the first time ever in the history of International Eucharistic Congresses (Dublin marks the 50th), and in one of the ‘most ambitious youth ministry programmes ever presented’ in the country (according to the Irish Bishops), there will be a specific programme geared towards young people who feel distanced from the Church, run by young people active in the Church. A peer to peer New Evangelisation that will take place in tandem with the Congress itself, from June 10-17.

The programme is simply called ‘Go! Be Church!’. Listen to Emer McCarthy’s full interview with Francois-David Freschi: RealAudioMP3

“We believe that Jesus Christ, through his Holy Spirit wants to tell them ‘I have something that I want for you, I have a project of love for you’” – continues Francois-David – “and the fact of coming to the Congress would really help them live a specific, strong joyful and intense experience that they would never forget”.

“We have a full programme with interactive catechesis, work shops, sharing groups, testimonies, liturgies as well as dramas and concerts. We will also have specific prayer like the Taize prayer in the presence of Br. Alois and other brothers from the Taize community, and we have an evening dedicated to reconciliation, followed by Eucharistic Adoration. This shows the will of the Congress to target specifically young people and to tell them you are part of the Church and your role is important”.

Q: This is also part of the new evangelisation…

“We are hoping that every parish in Ireland will send at least one young person to represent them in the IEC2012 Chiara Luce Youth Space. The Church in Ireland needs young people and the Congress is a fantastic opportunity for young adults to explore and celebrate their faith. At the end of the week, young people will be missioned to go back to their parishes to begin local faith programmes”.


Q: But another important aspect perhaps, is for young Irish people to realise they are not alone in struggling through life and struggling with their faith and this is why the participation of young people from other countries is so important. How are you going about attracting other young Catholics from abroad to Dublin?”

“In Belgium, one of our Archbishops once said ‘a Christian alone is a Christian in danger’ and that is very important. This aspect of the gathering, a Congress is a gathering, and this gathering is not only for Irish people but for people from every country in the world”. I think that the Church is a universal adventure, people gathering from every country. In doing this we can gather the Church, we can rebuild the Church and like our programme for the Congress says, go and be Church with Christ and one another. Here we have the opportunity to live this in an international way!”.

The IEC2012 Youth Space is named after Chiara Badano, an ordinary young woman involved in the Focolare movement, who died in 1990 at the age of 18, after succumbing to bone cancer. Because of her qualities as a friend, and her deep sensitivity to the needs of others, especially the poor, she came to be known as ‘Chiara Luce’ (Claire ‘the Light’ in Italian). Chiara was beatified in 2010 and is the patron saint of the IEC2012 Youth Space.

And to help young people who may not have the economic resources for a 7 day stay in Ireland, IEC organisers have appealed to Dublin families to open their homes to pilgrims as part of the Host a Pilgrim Programme (HAPP). To get involved and become part of the Congress in Dublin, Ireland this June you can register as an individual pilgrim or a group at www.iec2012.ie.








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