6. YOUNG PEOPLE AND SUPERIORS IN DIALOGUE:
ELEMENTS OF SYNTHESIS

- Father Fabio Ciardi, Omi

"Teach us new ways to create a communion that will be a sign for our brothers and sisters...;
Be witnesses of genuine Christian liberation for us...;
Encourage us to be courageous so as to take the risk of that which is new...".

The first international congress of young men and women religious opened with these words from Fr. Camilo Maccise and Sr. Giuseppina Fragasso, words which were spoken in the name of all the superiors general.

These are strong words which clearly expressed a sincere desire for dialogue.
The two Unions of superiors general called the young religious together so that there could be a sincere exchange about how they see and live religious life, about their dreams for the future, and what they expect of their elder brothers and sisters.

It was an act of courage and trust.
The young people realized this and were grateful for it.

They fulfilled the task asked of them, responding to their superiors’ expectations. "They spoke to one another" in a sincere and intense communion. At the same time, they "spoke" to us, their elders.

Some superior general or another may have thought they would say things different from what they said, that they would have said something new, that they would have said things in a different way... In fact, they said what they thought; they showed the stuff they are made of and what they want to be; they asked us elders for what they sincerely desired. During these days of our assembly in Ariccia, the superiors general have been listening to the young people with the same sincerity with which the young ones have spoken.

They listened directly through the seven young religious who spoke at the opening of the congress and with whom there was a lively exchange. They listened indirectly through the critical evaluations of those who worked with them: the facilitators, relators, and the organisers of the congress.

They let themselves be challenged by their messages, both those of a verbal nature as well as those of a behavioral or experiential type.

They have reflected on them. They have evaluated them. They asked how to accept them, how to respond to them. The documentation included in these "acts", the result of two days of intense work, bears witness to this. This brief final synthesis cannot possibly exhaust all its richness.

I will attempt to trace the basic lines, which can be divided into two parts: 1) the young people to their superiors general; 2) the superiors general to the young religious.