Synod: Taizé leader urges focus on young people

(Vatican Radio) The Fathers of the XIII Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops are into the final days of their work. For nearly three weeks, they have been gathering, first in General Congregation and then in small groups, to discuss ways to meet the challenges of preaching the Gospel effectively in places that, while historically steeped in and formed by the Gospel, have begun to undergo secularization.
One of the experts invited to advise the bishops is Brother Alois, the head of the Taizé ecumenical monastic community in France. He told Vatican Radio that pastors who would be successful in the New Evangelization need to understand more deeply the cultural outlook and concerns of young people. “Because the culture of young people [is becoming] a very different culture from the generations of their elders,” he said, “we have to make a greater effort to join this culture – to understand [young people].”
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s extended conversation with Taizé leader, Br. Alois: