But by focusing too much on these anecdotal aspects, are we not missing the spiritual depth of his testimony?

The core of Carlo Acutis' message is not inherently juvenile: it is his radical love for the Eucharist, which he called the "highway to heaven."

His practice of attending daily Mass as a transformative encounter with Christ, his ability to blend contemplation with action, prayer with engagement in the digital world—all this speaks to every baptised person, regardless of age or era.

A saint's unique characteristic is their ability to speak to all people at all times.

A projection by adults

The church's tendency to promote "Peter Pan saints"—idealised youthful figures who died before facing the complexities of adulthood—is not new.

Before Carlo Acutis, there were Sts Dominic Savio and Maria Goretti. These figures reveal an ecclesial fascination with an eternal, fantasised youth.

This promotion of devotion to Blessed Carlo comes more from adults (parents, youth ministers, priests) than from young people themselves.

While it claims to resonate with today's young Christians, what is often highlighted is the fantasy of a perfect youth: a well-behaved teenager without rebellion or crises.

Ultimately, Carlo becomes less the patron saint of teenagers and more the patron of what adults wish their teenagers would be.

An inhibiting idealisation

Such idealization can have a discouraging effect on young Catholics.

How can they not feel overwhelmed by these models of early perfection?

The "freshness" and "spontaneity" of adolescent faith are valuable but cannot be the sole spiritual horizon offered to youth.

Christian maturity also involves navigating deserts, persevering over time, and deepening faith through trials. Models of holiness for young people must allow them to envision spiritual growth that extends into adulthood, strengthening their resolve to mature and fulfil their faith.

By emphasizing mimicry—"someone like you"—we risk neglecting the truly inspirational dimension of sainthood. Saints should reveal what we aspire to be, not merely reflect what we already are.

Moreover, by confining Acutis to the role of "saint for the young," the church risks diminishing the universal scope of his testimony.

His way of living the Eucharistic mystery can move an adult as much as a teenager, and his approach to evangelisation through digital tools can inspire a senior as much as a young person.

While age-based segmentation serves understandable pastoral concerns, it ultimately impoverishes the Gospel message.

This also reflects the church's hesitation to allow a genuinely youthful voice that speaks to everyone.

This challenge surfaced in the recent Synod, where many young people felt ignored.

Yes, a 16-year-old in sneakers can teach the whole church about love for the Eucharist, missionary zeal, and service to the poor.

Yes, young people have a rightful place in the church's structure and governance, serving everyone.

The true modernity of Carlo Acutis

Blessed Carlo Acutis undoubtedly deserves canonisation.

But we must stop reducing him to a teenage icon that obscures his core message: his radical Eucharistic witness, which transcends age categories. And we must have the pastoral courage to present young people with a broader array of models of holiness, including figures who navigated the complexities of adult life while remaining faithful to the Gospel ideal.

The true modernity of Carlo Acutis lies not in his sneakers or gaming console but in his ability to make the heart of the Christian faith accessible and desirable.

In this, he is a true saint: one for our time and for all times.

• Clément Barré is a Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Bordeaux in southwestern France, and a team member of Enfance Adolescence, the diocesan Service for Children and Youth Ministry that aims to foster encounters with Christ, the church, and others among children and adolescents.
• First Published in La Croix International. Republished with permission.

Data shows the only statistics growing regarding youth employment, training and education are those recording their unemployment and disengagement from learning.

Unrewarding start

In the year to March 2024, Radio NZ says 12.4 percent of 15 to 24-year olds were not in employment, education or training (NEET). Of these, 14.2 percent were female.

These data indicate a marked increase from those reported at the end of March 2023. At that time, 10.9 percent of young people were in the NEET group; of those, 11.5 percent were young women.

For those aged 20 to 24, the rate was significantly higher this year than last. Over 18 percent of women in this age bracket were in the NEET group, up 27 percent year-on-year.

A Wellington mother whose now 21-year-old has lived on the benefit for the past three years wants more for him.

"Ultimately I really want them to get into something engaging and enriching. I want them to have a pathway to independence, to going flatting" she says.

Other parents share her aims.

Regional variation

The worst place to be if you're a young NEET is Northland.

It had the highest NEET rate at the end of March this year at 16.3 percent of people aged 15 to 24. The Bay of Plenty is next in line at 16.2 percent says Craig Renney, Council of Trade Unions policy director and economist.

Renney is concerned.

He says that young people in this situation are facing a potential "huge challenge" throughout their lives. Wage and employment scarring can happen when their labour market prospects deteriorate as a direct result of an initial spell of unemployment

"The longer they spend NEET, the worse the labour market outcomes tend to be for those people."

Renney says it's possible that young women's unemployment is a reflection of what's happening in the industries they had typically been employed in.

"We know construction is struggling, manufacturing is struggling but perhaps not as much as high street retail. Perhaps not as much as the more female-dominated industries."

Apprenticeships are often shed during downturns, Renney observes.

"Then when the upswing comes as inevitably as the downswing, and we suddenly need apprentices, we don't have any."

What to do

Helping NEET young people to stay in New Zealand and use or develop their skills here is important Renney says.

"Do they [the ones with skills] stay in-country? If they've got skills and not in education, employment or training they might say 'stuff this I'm going to Oz' and they don't come back. That's a permanent loss on that side.

"The longer you're out of employment the harder it is to get back in, that's why interventions at that point in life are so vital."

Source

• RNZ

At the tail end of 2021, freshly single and out of a 100-day lockdown, the 27-year-old was in a delicate headspace.

Tapping into the sex-go-round

For Sian, the dating apps had become an obsessive regime in curating profiles and swiping endlessly. Finding genuine connections felt like a futile attempt.

"What I probably needed was a therapist, but Bumble was free."

Navigating the outside world again was odd. Navigating the dating world again was intense.

"The apps are almost designed to facilitate hooking up; like, sex is always on the table, it's a given, it's an unspoken goal, it's implied unless stated otherwise.

"I was going through a breakup under the strangest circumstances, just cooped up at home with nothing but my thoughts, then suddenly we were outside again.

"I was so sick of feeling sad and helpless. I was keen to get through those feelings faster, so I was just doing whatever."

Sian began seeing a series of men post-lockdown and the sexual freedom felt exciting at first. Then, a few months passed, and she realised something was wrong. The problem was sex.

"I thought it was giving me this adrenaline rush but actually it was just giving me deep anxiety, meeting people, getting intimate too quickly, mixed messages, ghosting, rinse and repeat.

"I deleted the apps for a few weeks for mental clarity and naturally stopped seeing these men too. It was just meant to be a short break from dating and casual sex, but then it turned into almost a year of intentional celibacy. It was like a cleanse; emotionally, mentally, physically, everything."

Choosing celibacy

Celibacy might sound like an unconventional path for a 20-something-year-old, but disillusionment with hookup culture and increased sexual autonomy has led more and more young people to pursuing it.

Some pursue it for a few weeks, others a few months, or a few years.

On TikTok, intentional celibacy has become a trend; as of May 2024, the #celibacy hashtag has more than 200 million views, and religion is hardly mentioned by those practising it.

Earlier this month, an anti-celibacy ad campaign from Bumble also caught some flak online.

It began with a commercial showing a woman attempting to "swear off dating" and become a nun, only to abandon her convent after drooling over a sexy shirtless gardener and receiving an illicit phone loaded with the Bumble app.

Shortly after the commercial aired, global billboards with taglines like 'You know full well celibacy is not the answer' and 'Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun' were unveiled.

A TikTok video criticising the campaign caught the attention of model and actor Julia Fox, who lived a former life as an 18-year-old dominatrix in Manhattan.

Fox commented under the video: "2.5 years of celibacy and never been better tbh," and hundreds replied echoing similar sentiments.

"Celibacy and decentring men is lifechanging," one said. "Eight years celibate, no drama, no hate, I'm finally loving every second of life," said another.

Sexual autonomy

Women's sex and libido coach Sofie Louise says the trend in young people choosing celibacy could be down to an increased awareness of sexual autonomy.

"I think the motivations are changing and people feel like they have more choice around whether they're having sex or not, and they feel more validated in those choices and find community in those choices which is amazing.

"There are still a lot of stereotypes that exist that try and dictate people's sexual behaviour.

"There's the idea that women are sluts if they have too much sex or prudes if they don't have enough sex, that men should love sex and want to have it all the time and all of these generalisations.

"I think that slowly, while they still exist, they're being broken down and scrutinised more and more, and people's realities are being talked about more and more, so people feel like they have autonomy to make their own choices."

Louise says a lot of people might approach a period of celibacy in the same way they might approach something like Dry July. Read more

• Jogai Bhatt is a digital lifestyle and entertainment journalist at Radio New Zealand

But when 99% of Catholic churches have a male preacher this Sunday in a world where 50% of the Catholic population are women, it's time for our daughters and granddaughters — and sons and grandsons — to see us naming out loud a problem we've endured quietly in our hearts.

What seemed normalised to my devout Catholic Cuban grandmothers, and became uncomfortable for my mother and has become unacceptable for me, is now unbearable for my nieces and many of our daughters.

This will have untold consequences for the future of Catholic ministries.

According to a report by the Pew Research Center, as of 2022, 43% of Hispanic adults identify as Catholic, down from 67% in 2010.

In my work listening to older Hispanic/Latino Catholics in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere, I often hear how their children and grandchildren have become disengaged from their families' long-standing, multigenerational Catholic faith.

The loss of family unity feels enormous.

I co-direct Discerning Deacons, a project inviting Catholics to consider women's inclusion in the permanent diaconate — an order that already includes married men ordained to serve in the life of the church.

We launched our effort because young Catholics have only ever lived in a church reckoning with the clergy sex-abuse crisis.

They see other professional fields taking steps to recognize women in visible leadership roles — athletics, government, academics, medicine, business — and wonder why their religious institutions will not.

These challenges have not escaped my own family.

After my niece Carolina was confirmed as a teenager, she begged her parents not to obligate her to keep going to Mass.

My niece found it increasingly painful and unbearable to walk into a church where only men preached.

"I can't find God in church when I'm feeling so angry and rejected," Carolina told her mother.

"They haven't set up a space to welcome me the way I believe God would welcome me."

The family was faced with rethinking Sundays.

Ultimately, they agreed that Carolina would choose a spiritual book that interested her to keep nurturing her soul, which was important to her parents, and on the way to Mass, they would drop her off at Starbucks.

After they picked her up, they would engage in a faith conversation.

Today, Carolina is living out her faith by building a community that is more inclusive and welcoming — much like what Jesus did. Continue reading

• Ellie Hidalgo is a parishioner at Our Lady of Divine Providence Church in Miami, Florida and is co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project that engages Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about women and the diaconate.

"How do we best engage with young people?" he was asked.

"For me the key word is testimony," Francis responded.

"Without testimony, without witnessing, nothing can be done.

"You end up like that beautiful song by Mina: 'parole, parole, parole…' (words, words, words). Without testimony nothing happens. And testimony means consistency of life."

It isn't relevant whether a young person is in formation to become a Jesuit or if they're looking for other vocations, Francis said. He offered the following advice.

"Speak clearly!"

Francis commented that it used to be said a good Jesuit had to think clearly and speak obscurely.

"But with young people that does not work: you have to speak clearly, show them consistency. Young people have a nose for when there is no consistency.

"With young people in formation you have to speak as to adults, as you speak to grown ups, not children. And introduce them to spiritual experience; prepare them for the great spiritual experience that is the Exercises.

"Young people do not tolerate double-speak, that is clear to me. But being clear does not mean being aggressive. Clarity must always be combined with amiability, fraternity, fatherhood."

Francis went on to say: "The key word is 'authenticity'. Let young people say what they feel.

"For me, dialogue between a young person and an older person is important: talking, discussing.

"I expect authenticity, that people speak of things as they are: difficulties, sins.

"As a formation facilitator you have to teach young people consistency.

"And it is important for the young to dialogue with the old. The old people cannot be in the infirmary alone; they have to be in community, so that exchanges between them and young people are possible."

Francis then turned to the Old Testament, reminding his audience of the prophet Joel.

Joel said "...the old will have dreams and the young will be prophets. The prophecy of a young person is one that comes from a tender relationship with the old.'

Francis continued: "Tenderness is one of God's key words: closeness, compassion and tenderness. On this path we will never go wrong. This is God's style."

Source

• La Civitta Cattollica

But I walked away with hope, thanks to speaker Ellen Koneck, executive director of Commonweal magazine, who was frank and honest but also insightful and upbeat about the future of our faith.

Her April 14 keynote, subtitled "The Context and the Concerns of Young Catholics," kicked off a weekend-long gathering co-sponsored by the Catholic Common Ground Initiative and the Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union.

"There is no reason to fret. The Holy Spirit is always creative," said Koneck, who is herself a millennial and formerly worked for Springtide Research Institute, which focuses on young people ages 13-25.

Koneck acknowledged what we already know about millennials and Generation Z: They don't trust institutions, skepticism is their default attitude, and they are leaving or never joining churches at higher rates than ever.

Yet even among the unaffiliated or "nones": 19% attend religious gatherings at least once a month; 38% say they are religious and 60% say they are at least slightly spiritual.

But even these questions about religious gatherings and "religious" and "spiritual" don't acknowledge that these and subsequent generations are "doing religion" differently, if they are doing it at all, Koneck said.

"Stats about disaffiliation are great for hand-wringing, but not that helpful for understanding young people," she said.

While religious institutions are understandably concerned about membership and attendance numbers, "membership is not a particularly meaningful metric for understanding a young person's beliefs or relationship to God or others," she said.

She also noted that concern about polarization in the church ignores the more pertinent issue of alienation among young people. In fact, polarized Catholics on the left and the right actually have much in common in that they care about the church — whereas many young people are already out the door.

"Polarization is a sign of passion, that the church is worth fighting for," she said.

When young people leave the church, "it must be received as a witness," Koneck said. "This is the work of our generation, of our generations," she said, to "roll up our sleeves" to address both polarization and alienation in the church.

During the Q&A, I followed up on Koneck's point about membership not being the metric, while noting that data about beliefs and practices also were not high for young people. If these things are not the metric, what is?

She didn't skip a beat with her answer: "Relationships." Continue reading

• Heidi Schlumpf is NCR executive editor.

Have the courage to follow Jesus despite the fears and insecurities you might have, Francis said.

He began his speech after riding around in his popemobile greeting youth before the event started, listening to testimonies from several participants before offering his own remarks.

"Life is for living and giving to others," he told the crowd.

"It is important that you move forward."

Staying isolated and closed off from others doesn't help, but talking to and confiding in others about your fears does.

"Illuminate them, say them. Discouragement? Win it with courage, with someone to give you a hand. And the nose for life: don't lose it, because it's a beautiful thing."

Acknowledging the many reasons making young people afraid, Francis reminded the 80,000-strong crowd that Easter marks Jesus' victory over death.

This year, "the clouds that darken our time are still dense," he said.

"In addition to the pandemic, Europe is experiencing a terrible war, while injustices and violence continue in many regions of the earth that destroy mankind and the planet."

It is often young people who pay the highest price as they lose their hope and dreams for the future, he said.

"Sometimes life puts us to the test, makes us touch our frailties, makes us feel naked, helpless, alone…We must not be ashamed to say: ‘I'm afraid of the dark!' We are all afraid of the dark," the pope said. "Fears must be said, fears must be expressed in order to be able to drive them away.

"When the fears, which are in darkness, go into the light, the truth bursts out," he said. The important thing about moments of crisis is not the crisis itself, but "how I manage this crisis."

Closing his speech, the pope told the young crowd not to be "ashamed of your outbursts of generosity."

"Don't be afraid of life, please! Be afraid of death, the death of the soul, the death of the future, the closure of the heart, be afraid of these things. But of life, no. Life is beautiful."

Called "#Seguimi (#Followme)," from Chapter 21 of John's Gospel and promoted on social media under the same hashtag, the pilgrimage marks one of the first major public gatherings to take place in St Peter's Square since 2020.

Source

• CruxNow
• Image:

The Bath University-led survey questioned young people from 10 countries. Its focus concentrated specifically on young people's emotional reactions to climate change.

Claiming to be the biggest global survey of its kind, it gathered responses from 10,000 people aged between 16 and 25 about the following statements:

People have failed to care for the planet: 83 percent agreed globally, UK 80 percent
The future is frightening: 75 percent agreed globally, UK 72 percent
Governments are failing young people: 65 percent agreed globally, UK 65 percent
Governments can be trusted: 31 percent agreed globally, UK 28 percent

In addition:
Nearly 60 percent of the young people approached said they felt very worried or extremely worried.
More than 45 percent of those questioned said feelings about the climate affected their daily lives.
Three-quarters said they thought the future was frightening. Over half (56 percent) say they think humanity is doomed. Many said governments are failing to respond adequately.
Two-thirds reported feeling sad, afraid and anxious.
Many admitted to feelings of fear, anger, despair, grief and shame - and hope.

Many disclose feelings of betrayal and of being ignored and abandoned by politicians and adults.

The report says young people are confused by governments' failure to act. They say environmental fears are "profoundly affecting huge numbers of young people".

"It's different for young people - for us, the destruction of the planet is personal," a 16-year old told surveyors.

Mental and physical health are being impacted by chronic stress over climate change, young people say. They predict this will worsen if severe weather events continue.

Young people are especially affected by climate fears because they are developing psychologically, socially and physically, the report says.

"This shows eco-anxiety is not just for environmental destruction alone, but inextricably linked to government inaction on climate change. The young feel abandoned and betrayed by governments," lead author, Caroline Hickman says.

"We're not just measuring how they feel, but what they think. Four out of 10 are hesitant to have children.

"Governments need to listen to the science and not pathologise young people who feel anxious."

The authors say levels of anxiety appear to be greatest in nations where government climate policies are considered weakest.

The most worried rich nation is Portugal, which has seen repeated wildfires.

The authors believe the failure of governments on climate change may be defined as cruelty under human rights legislation. Six young people are already taking the Portuguese government to court to argue this.

The researchers said they were moved by the scale of distress.

One young person said: "I don't want to die, but I don't want to live in a world that doesn't care for children and animals".

Source

• RNZ
• Image: Greenroofs.com

Rather, we should all be looking for ways to help them experience "the new normal."

That's the argument from Springtide Research Institute, which surveyed 2,500 members of Generation Z (ages 13 to 25) in February 2021 about their experiences of, and attitudes about, the pandemic.

It's not going to be easy for young people to merely pick up where they left off, said Josh Packard, Springtide's executive director.

"There's just a whole lot of things that they missed," he said.

"They're not getting back to some sort of normality. And they need help processing that, to make sense of it and understanding their lives now."

The first step in helping them process is just to catalogue it all unflinchingly: Graduations. Proms. Summer camps. Athletic competitions. Dates. College orientations. Religious youth group retreats. School concerts. First jobs.

The list goes on and on.

And that's to say nothing of the fact many young Americans count loved ones among the nearly 600,000 U.S. citizens who have died so far in the pandemic.

Part of what religion can do is help young people grieve these lost milestones and relationships. "We have lots of really great and rich rituals and traditions that can and should be employed here to help young people,"

Packard said. Religious leaders can draw upon those rituals to help teens and young adults name and mourn their losses.

For example, they might have youth write down their missed milestones, talk about their feelings and then burn the papers to ash.

But here's a problem: Nine out of 10 young people say they didn't hear from a religious leader during the pandemic.

"We were hearing lots of news stories about religious leaders scrambling to put services online. And at the same time, we're hearing from young people that nobody was really checking in on them, especially religious leaders."

• Only 10% of the young people surveyed said a clergy member had checked in to see how they were doing.
• And only 14% reported turning to a faith community when they felt overwhelmed and didn't know what to do.

On the other hand, faith communities scored higher than other institutions in how young people thought they handled the pandemic.

The study found 50% agreed their faith community had done "a great job navigating the pandemic" — which was higher than the report card they gave to the government.

In fact, two-thirds (65%) said the government did not do its best to protect people during the pandemic. And more than half (57%) said they're going to have a harder time trusting others, even their own family and friends, after seeing how they handled the pandemic.

Packard was intrigued that half of young people thought their faith communities had done well managing the COVID pandemic even though 90% reported receiving no personal contact from clergy.

He was also heartened by the study's finding that young people's personal faith more or less held steady despite all the upheaval.

Roughly half (47%) said their faith stayed about the same in the crisis, just over a quarter (26%) that it had grown stronger, and just over a quarter (27%) that they were doubting or had lost their faith.

The Springtide report identifies eight areas to care for Generation Z, including the advice above to help them grieve.

Packard said the data showed not all young people are impatient to go back out into society; remember, it's been a year not just of pandemic uncertainty but also racial protests and a dangerously divided electorate. It has all taken a toll.

"I think coming out of the pandemic, religious leaders and trusted adults would do well to remember that it's going to be stressful coming out just as it was going in," Packard said. "Lots of people told us they were uneasy about coming out of the pandemic, that they felt like they might be asked to be in groups quicker than they were ready to be in."

But here's a silver lining.

Nearly 7 in 10 young people surveyed said they have a new appreciation for relationships, and they "won't take for granted relationships and opportunities the way they did before."

• Jana Riess is a senior columnist at RNS. She has a PhD in American religious history from Columbia University.
• First published in RNS. Republished with permssion.

He says he was cheered by a recent reading at Mass where a group is bewailing the fact that their "good deeds" go unnoticed when they fast.

"Part of the problem, as Isaiah is at pains to point out, are the double standards of the obsequious with their practices of denial', says Fr Tim Duckworth, leader of the Society of Mary in New Zealand.

"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

"Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

"Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily." (Is 58:1-9)

Duckworth points out to Marist priests and brothers that what might be labeled traditional "Lenten practices" like fasting, hanging your head, and lying down on sackcloth and ashes all get a sideswipe when compared to what is really necessary.

He is encouraging Marist priests and brothers to turn again to the needs of the disadvantaged, dispossessed, migrants, homeless and young people and to ask: "How is it that our ministry, prayer, our Lenten observance can make a difference?"

Duckworth says that he often hears young people criticise religion and religious people.

They say religion and religious people are "overly concerned with ourselves as related to God and not that much concerned with the gospel message that Jesus was at pains to point out."

As a tangible expression of the Gospel and a response to Isaiah 58:1-9, the New Zealand leader of the Society of Mary, proposes that Marist priests and brothers use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to focus the attention of their community life and mission.

As Duckworth points out the Sustainable Development Goals receive the endorsement of Pope Francis who labels them "a great step forward".

Economic and political objectives, Pope Francis stressed, "must be sustained by ethical objectives, which presuppose a change of attitude: what the Bible would call a change of heart."

What is needed, Francis writes, is a commitment to "promoting and implementing the development goals that are supported by our deepest religious and ethical values."

Noting the importance of the religious dimension, Francis says that "those of us who are religious need to open up the treasures of our best traditions in order to engage in a true and respectful dialogue on how to build the future of our planet."

In presenting this vision to New Zealand Marists, Duckworth is realistic and acknowledges, for example, no one Marist community is going to achieve world peace alone.

However, he observes, joining with others across the globe makes it more possible.

"We do well to focus our attention on these huge issues so that we do not lose sight of all that is required to make the world a better, more just, more compassionate, more empathetic, more merciful, more loving and peaceful place", he writes.

Acknowledging the Sustainable Development Goals are the product of the United Nations, Duckworth reinforces Pope Francis' message that they are not divorced from the Christian message.

"The Christian Gospel brings additional insights and impulses into each of these Sustainable Development Goals. For us, they are all underpinned by our Christian understanding that as Children of God we are required to care for each other, for our planet and for the conditions and lives of others in our world."

Duckworth notes the United Nations set these brave goals as a target for 2030 and is urging Marists to be bold.

"We could easily be overwhelmed by them and say — well that simply isn't possible, rather than how can I add what I have into this effort."

Sustainable Development Goals

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Sources

• Tim Duckworth SM is the New Zealand provincial leader of the Society of Mary
• United Nations
• Vatican News

The study undertaken during lockdown is providing a glimpse into New Zealand's mental health. Young people in particular found it hard-going.

The study results were reported in a research paper,'Psychological distress, anxiety, family violence, suicidality, and wellbeing in New Zealand during the COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional study', which was published in the international journal, PLOS ONE.

The Otago University study involved a survey of 2000 people taken in April. Besides almost 40 percent of respondents reporting low wellbeing, the researchers also found about a third of them reported moderate-to-high distress.

About a third of New Zealanders reported significant distress, with rates in younger people (18-34 years) being higher than for older people.

Just over 47 percent of 18 to 24 year olds reported to have severe levels of psychological distress.

More people reported feeling suicidal and there were higher rates of family violence during lockdown too.

There was no difference by ethnicity in the way lockdown affected people: 6.1 percent reported suicidal ideation, with 2.1 percent making active plans, and the same proportion reported having made a suicide attempt.

This was more common among young people, however.

Rates of distress among women and men were similar, which is unusual as often women report higher levels of distress.

The study also found one in five New Zealanders increased their usual drinking habits over lockdown.

The results of the survey provide an interesting snapshot of people's self-reported psychological distress, anxiety and suicidality captured at the 'peak' of the early lockdown period, says Associate Professor Janet Fanslow from The University of Auckland.

She would like to see mental health and family violence response systems resourced to respond to increased need during times of lockdown.

In her opinion Covid-19 response and post-crisis recovery plans need to promote women's economic empowerment and address gender inequalities in employment and social protection systems.

This will require systemic change to address the underlying causes of mental health issues and family violence whether the country is in lockdown or not.

Setting up such a change would require investment in and implementation of evidence-based prevention strategies to prevent family violence, Fanslow says.

Clinical psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland says the stresses affecting people during lockdown were probably from more than one source.

"Although the study couldn't tell us exactly what about the lockdown people found stressful, it is likely that a combination of health anxiety and worry about the potential economic consequences of Covid-19 played a role," he says.

Dr Susanna Every-Palmer from Otago University says not all the consequences of the lockdown were negative.

Many (62 percent of respondents enjoyed 'silver linings' the lockdown offered: working from home, spending more time with family and living in a quieter, less polluted environment.

"Governments should make providing mental health support a similar priority to other health measures, such as contact tracing, provision of personal protective equipment and procurement of ventilators," she says.

Source

• RNZ
• Image: University Hospitals

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  (for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese)
• Youthline - 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz
  (for young people, and their parents, whanau and friends)
• What's Up - 0800 942 8787
  (for 5-18 year olds; 1 pm to 11 pm)
• The Lowdown - visit the website, email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626 (emails and text messages will be responded to between 12 noon and 12 midnight)
• SPARX - an online self-help tool that teaches young people the key skills needed to help combat depression and anxiety.

In an era when Kanye West runs gospel-inspired services, and megachurches, like Hillsong, release chart-topping hits, these ancient Christian traditions are, unexpectedly, having a moment.

And they're not just resonating with older generations, either.

Younger people are flocking to late-night Latin Mass — at least they were pre-COVID — and embracing Christian orthodoxy in online spaces.

So says Tara Isabella Burton, America-based author of the forthcoming book Strange Rites and a member of the self-proclaimed "Weird Christian" movement.

"The term is often applied to young, online Christians who embrace the elements of their faith that might be considered weird by the modern world," Burton explains.

Elements, she says, like the death and resurrection of Jesus.

"We don't have to explain away miracles or fit them into a modern scientific system, but actually embrace the strangeness of those ideas."

The allure of Weird Christianity goes beyond an espousal of the Bible. Burton says the otherworldly nature of religious rituals are also appealing to the young and disillusioned.

"There's a sense of enchantment that often comes with the pageantry," says Burton, who attends St Ignatius of Antioch in New York City, part of the Episcopalian or Anglo-Catholic tradition.

Burton says one of the factors uniting this community is their "punk"- like rejection of "contemporary secular capitalist culture" in favour of old-fashioned Christianity.

"[There's a] sense in which the choices we make are part of our personal brand," she says.

"Where we go to church, what newspapers we read, what we buy — all of these qualities together, make up this kind of identity through consumption.

"What it means to belong to a faith is never quite as crystal clear as what you believe in your heart, which itself may change from day to day."

'An element of drama'

While "Weird Christianity" may have a larger following in America, Australian places of worship are also attracting younger congregants through their history and "mystery".

Such is the case at Sydney's Christ Church St Laurence in Sydney's CBD.

Like St Ignatius, the church is part of the Anglo-Catholic or High Anglican strain of Christianity, which places a large emphasis on tradition.

The church's rector Daniel Dries says that while the congregation has an average age of 60, younger people are choosing to attend services that are rich with ancient rituals.

"It's not theatre, but there's certainly an element of drama," he says, pointing to the candles, incense and elaborate liturgical wear that feature in services.

"We sing music here that goes back to the Middle Ages — Gregorian chants — and renaissance choral music, so we rely on young people, who are very involved in those things."

Reverend Dries believes that Anglo-Catholicism has an "element of mystery about it" that can be missing from everyday life or other religious practices.

"Some of our young people come from a more evangelical tradition, which is sort of word-based and very long sermons or improvised prayers," he explains.

"I think for some people ... there sometimes comes a point where they can't deal with words anymore, and there's this genuine desire to enter into silence, mystery, music and ritual." Continue reading

• Tara Isabella Burton is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. Winner of the Shiva Naipaul Memorial Prize for Travel Writing, she completed her doctorate in 19th century French literature and theology.

A general summary of the topics discussed during the closed-door session has been published.

Some of the discussions focused on ordaining married men. It was described as a "legitimate need" but one which "cannot affect a substantial rethinking of the nature of the priesthood and its relationship with celibacy" in the Latin rite.

Instead, vocational programmes for young indigenous men to promote evangelization in remote areas could be considered.

This way there would not be "first-class Catholics" who have easy access to the Eucharist and "second-class Catholics" who go without the sacrament, sometimes even for two years at a time.

Another topic focused on the need to avoid the "colonialism" that characterised early missionary efforts. Rather, cultural identities in the Amazon should be preserved.

This is important, as every culture makes its contribution to the "catholicity" of the church, which is built on respect and complementarity.

Some bishops said the church is like a complex ecosystem with "wonderful spiritual biodiversity" expressed in so many different communities, cultures, forms of religious life and ministries.

Others focused on indigenous practices.

When they are not tied to superstitious beliefs, these practices are looked upon with "benevolence" so long as they may become in tune with "the true liturgical spirit," the speakers said.

Collecting and sharing the different "inculturated celebrations" indigenous communities use with the sacraments of baptism, marriage and priestly ordination is an option one speaker proffered.

Others built on this idea. One bishop suggested there might be a way to establish on an experimental basis — and after appropriate theological, liturgical and pastoral study — an Amazonian Catholic rite for living and celebrating faith in Christ.

Protecting groundwater from chemical contaminants coming from multinational companies and the effect mining in the region is having on the environment were also topics of concern.

Other speakers focused on the serious consequences abusive practices are having on local peoples and urged respect for human and environmental rights.

Climate change, ending the use of fossil fuels, especially in industrialized nations which produce the most pollutants, are similar concerns.

The way many young people are taking the lead in promoting "integral ecology" was noted.

It is important to reach out to young people on issues dealing with safeguarding creation and to promote young people's efforts, many bishops agreed.

Source

• Catholic News Service
• Image: Catholic News Agency

The competition ‘Saints Next Door' is open to young people of all faiths and denominations.

In 2018, Pope Francis shared a letter about saints. He explained that saints needn't be mystical people from the past who cured lepers and floated above the floor.

In fact, anyone can be what the pope labels as ‘saints next door.'

"Let us be spurred on by the signs of holiness that the Lord shows us through the humblest members of that people which "shares also in Christ's prophetic office, spreading abroad a living witness to him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity." (Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate)

The competition has three categories, from year 7 to year 13, with one prize for each category.

Recent school leavers are welcome to enter. Their videos will be judged with those of senior students.

Winning entrants can choose new technology up to the value of $900.

Anyone wishing to enter the competition has to register their interest.

This is done by visiting the competition website and completing the online form.

Registration must be completed by Friday 23 August.

Finished films need to be completed and submitted online by Friday 30 August.

There is more information on the competition website including tips, inspiration and a resource kit for teachers.

Supplied: Amanda Gregan: Ko te Huinga Pihopa o te Hahi Katorika o Aotearoa - New Zealand Catholic Bishop's Conference

• videocompetition.co.nz

What we heard was a familiar litany, placing blame for missing young people on:

• Technology — specifically youths' obsession with smartphones — which supposedly robs them of the contemplative mind and makes them "suckers for irrelevancy."
• An aversion to "orthodoxy," a term the user brandished with the certainty that his strain of orthodoxy is the immutable version of the truth.
• The "dumbing down of our faith."
• The pervasiveness of pornography and relativism, of course.
• And a new danger — the "bland toleration" of diversity, a curious addition.

According to this analysis, it is the young people, not the church, who are in crisis.

By this analysis, the very institution that young people find so wanting that they have nothing to do with it nonetheless knows all of the questions and has all of the answers.

This analysis imagines a "kairos moment" when scales fall from young eyes that no longer gaze at screens nor at pervasive porn as they become aware of their deficiencies and their state of crisis.

What a self-satisfying assessment. And what a relief. It isn't that healthy young people might be repulsed by the way that church leaders mishandled the sex abuse crisis for decades.

Nor is it the money scandals or callousness toward gay and lesbian Catholics or the bishop-driven one-issue politics that has reduced religion and faith to a bumper sticker in the culture wars.

No, they say, the problem lies with young people who have acquired culturally influenced defects.

The cultural critique has value, of course, and the disaffection of young people from all manner of institutional involvement — from the local symphony orchestra to the Rotary Club — needs continued examination to figure out how institutions can be relevant to young people.

While dwindling numbers of Catholics are no doubt due to some extent to these social forces, there is much more to consider in the case of the church.

Before becoming too convinced that the reason for the disaffection lies with everything and everyone else, church leaders need to seriously examine how their own shortcomings and failures have contributed to young people leaving the church.

It is reasonable to understand that teens and young adults, living in a civil culture that increasingly accepts their LGBT friends and family members, find unacceptable the intolerance and outright discrimination of some Catholic officials and organizations.

It is understandable that a young person would rather not be part of an institution that preaches God's mercy but shows little mercy toward divorced and remarried parents.

Young people, especially young women, who know how their mothers and grandmothers struggled to gain equality in the wider culture, don't care to become involved in an institution where women are marginalized. Continue reading

"The Church wants to listen to the voice, the sensitivity, of faith and also the doubts and criticisms of young people," he says.

The Vatican says it is inviting young people from different parts of the world to attend the summit, which is set for 19-24 March.

The group will include Catholics and others from different Christian denominations,as well as people from other religions and non-believers.

Francis says the youth summit's conclusions will be used in the international bishops' synod on "Young people, the Faith and Vocational Discernment", which he is hosting.

The synod's aim is to find ways the Catholic Church can better minister to young people.

The Vatican has already sought young people's views through an online questionnaire.

Source

• The Washington Post
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Todayonline.com

Messy Church is not a denomination, but a world -wide movement that attempts to provide "a relaxed style of church suitable for all ages."

It values are about being Christ-centred, for all ages, based on creativity, hospitality and celebration.

Kapiti parish's Messy church co-ordinator Carrole Lewis, says their messy church has about 40 people ranging in age from babies to the elderly.

More than a quarter are teenage or pre-teen.

One young girl told Carrole that a messy church retreat she attended as well as some other and other experiences played a big part in transforming how she connects with God, by experiencing opportunities to be still and reflect.

"At our planning meeting for Easter Messy Church, she shared with such enthusiasm her idea of creating a tomb, using puppet theatre, in which we could place the cloths that Jesus was wrapped in, and have people write prayers on them," says Carrole.

"She brought three of her friends with her and together, they took responsibility for this project."

Carrole offered the girl an opportunity to lead the prayer response time.

She said the girl led with such "grace, truth and openness."

"The most powerful moment for me was when I saw this young person unashamedly standing up before her friends, and strangers, and praising God, giving thanks for the Easter story and everything He does in her and our lives."

• Source
  movementonline.org.nz
• messychurch.nz
• Image: holytrinity.gen.nz

But it turns out cool isn't what young people want. Forget the rock-band vibe and the flashing lights. Warm is the new cool.

For our book "Growing Young," we researched more than 250 congregations. When we spoke to more than 1,300 young churchgoers, ages 15 to 29, they told us what they want: authenticity and connection.

In a word: warmth.

When we analyzed the terms that young adults used to describe the churches or parishes that they chose, we noticed repeated words: welcoming, accepting, belonging, authentic, hospitable and caring. We began to call this the "warmth cluster."

Across the board in statistical analyses, this warmth cluster emerged as a stronger variable than any ministry program. Ironically, it is possible that your church might be working against warmth by offering myriad programs. Busyness doesn't equal warmth.

By suggesting that churches need to grow warmer, we don't mean adults should be nice to young people. Nice does not cut it. And warmth is more than superficial community. It's "like family" — as young people told us again and again during our interviews and field visits.

Here are some ideas to help your church become a warmer community:

• Redirect your budget to facilitate warmth whenever you can. At one multiethnic church, we were struck when volunteer leaders told us that they all have meal budgets. Every small group leader in the youth ministry is encouraged to take students out for meals or treats regularly as part of their formation process. The students trumpeted the value of this investment, as you'd expect from teenagers who are getting fed. But it wasn't just about food; when describing their meal conversations, students used many of the phrases common to warm communities that emerged in our research. Continue reading

Sources

• The Washington Post, article by Kara Powell, Jake Mulder and Brad Griffin
• Image: The Long Island Catholic

"Decisions Catholics make in their everyday lives are rarely ethically clear-cut, but rather exist on a spectrum between good and evil," the pope said.

"We need to form future priests not to general and abstract ideas, which are clear and distinct, but to [the] keen discernment of spirits so that they can help people in their concrete life," he said.

In a private dialogue with Jesuits in Poland during his trip there, Francis asked his confreres to particularly work with seminarians to help them learn "the wisdom of discernment."

A transcript of the dialogue was released for the first time last week by the Italian Jesuit magazine Civiltà Cattolica.

"Some priestly formation programmes run the risk of educating in the light of overly clear and distinct ideas, and therefore to act within limits and criteria that are rigidly defined ... and that set aside concrete situations," said Francis.

"The seminarians, when they become priests, find themselves in difficulty in accompanying the life of so many young people and adults," he continued.

"We need to truly understand this: in life not all is black on white or white on black. No! The shades of grey prevail in life. We must them teach to discern in this grey area."

In his apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis has highlighted the importance of psychological formation and affective maturity for seminarians:

"Seminarians should receive a more extensive interdisciplinary, and not merely doctrinal, formation in the areas of engagement and marriage.

"Their training does not always allow them to explore their own psychological and affective background and experiences. Some come from troubled families, with absent parents and a lack of emotional stability."

"There is a need to ensure that the formation process can enable them to attain the maturity and psychological balance needed for their future ministry. …" (para 203)

The pope met with the Polish Jesuits in a private setting, as he often visits with members of his religious order on trips abroad.

The Vatican did not release a transcript of the meeting, but Civiltà Cattolica says it is publishing the dialogue now with Francis' consent.

Source

• ncronline.org
• Image: cruxnow.com

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin also said the Church needs to ask itself if it has drifted away from young people.

In the referendum on May 22, voters were asked if they agreed with the statement: ""Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex".

Of votes cast, the "Yes" vote was 62.1 per cent to 37.9 per cent "No".

The total turnout was 60.5 per cent.

Archbishop Martin acknowledged that there had been a "social revolution" - but it didn't begin with the referendum.

"It's very clear that if this referendum is an affirmation of the views of young people, then the Church has a huge task in front of it to find the language to be able to talk to and to get its message across to young people, not just on this issue, but in general," he said.

When he met Pope Benedict after he became archbishop, the pope asked him about the points of contact between the Catholic Church and the places where the future of Irish culture was being formed, he said.

"And that's a question the Church has to ask itself here in Ireland," Dr Martin said.

"Most of these young people who voted ‘Yes' are products of our Catholic schools for 12 years," he said.

"There's a big challenge there to see how we get across the message of the Church . . .We need to sit down and say ‘are we reaching out at all to young people?' . . . We're becoming a Church of the like-minded, and a sort of a safe space for the like-minded," he said.

The archbishop said this didn't mean the Church renouncing its teaching on marriage and family.

Rather it needed to find a new language, which it owns, but others appreciate.

"The Church's teaching, if it isn't expressed in terms of love - then it's got it wrong," he added.

Sources

• Irish Times
• BBC
• RT
• Image: Independent