A. The young people before their superiors general

Through the contribution of the young people, the facilitators and the speakers who addressed us during these days, we have been able to grasp the image which the young religious have given us about themselves, their needs and their expectations.

1. How do the young people see themselves?

They have been sincere in telling us what they feel and experience (and this is in itself is noteworthy). Thus they expressed:

·a strong sense of identity and belonging. They believe in their own vocation;

·their idealism, not something abstract or an escape from reality but a desire to live the evangelical counsels and the charism of their institute in all their purity, absoluteness, immediacy and authenticity, rejecting every type of compromise or accommodation;

·their youthful enthusiasm, an authentic gift from God, which is able to give them strength and courage in the pursuit of the ideals they perceive;

·their recognition of the gratuitous gift and the benefit of coming together, of getting to know one another, of sharing....

·their joy at discovering the richness of their diversity.

However, at the same time they showed that they feel like the typical person. Without undue embarrassment, they admitted that in certain ways they were weak, in need of one another. They are aware of their own weakness and limitations. They also have a small measure of fear about the future and sometimes they feel rather alone in the institute (and in the Church) and insignificant in the world’s eyes. They admit that they have great difficulty in communicating (or not communicating) with their peers.

They find the strength to forge on above all in reciprocal communication and unity.

2. What do the young people desire?

What was most evident was their demand for:

·a share in the spiritual journey, plans, difficulties and fears, and in the way that the charism is interpreted and expressed in today’s world;

·living unity in diversity under all aspects, from the cultural to those involving the charism;

·journeying together;

·drawing up projects of holiness to be lived together;

·genuine communities which are places of fraternity in which a person can also develop his/her human aspects;

·a dialogue and sharing with all the members of the community, even the very old;

·communion among diverse institutes and their spirituality, as will as the demand for dialogue with the consecrated persons from other churches, with monks of other religions, with the young lay people....

There is a strong demand for the radicality of the Gospel and a "holistic" spiritual life.

The basic aspects of the consecrated life (spiritual life, prayer, the following of Christ, the vows and mission) are interpreted and given new understanding in the light of the fundamental category of unity and communion.

A third area of emphasis is that of mission. The following emerged:

·a much broader and bolder concept of missionary service;

·a strong conviction of the value of bearing witness to Gospel values;

·the demand to dedicate one’s life to those services which have still to be touched, in the desert, in the outskirts of the cities, in the frontier areas.

3. What do they expect of their superiors?

First and foremost they believe in the wisdom of their older brothers and sisters.

With this basic attitude of trust as their point of departure, they expressed various needs, including the following:

·a sincere dialogue through which they can receive wisdom and experience;
·more help, trust, encouragement, openness, and listening on the part of their superiors (they want to be accepted with calmness, love, and not to be judged);
·a need for mediation, for persons who can help them translate what they learn into a lived experience;
·well-trained spiritual directors; formators who themselves have been well-formed;
·new models of leadership and formation;
·closer attention to the human aspects of formation;
·greater decisiveness on the part of superiors, surer statements, an end to experimentation;
·greater clarity and consistency regarding the charism;
·a religious life that is more human and "down-to-earth";
·greater rapport with the whole institute.

They also ask:

·that the congregation’s problems should not weigh so heavily on them, especially those problems created by large institutions;
·more room for freedom and creativity. They need to be actively involved in building community and in apostolic projects. They want greater involvement in their respective institutes, aware that they too have something to offer;
·to express to the depths that which they live;
·help in fulfilling their great dreams of fraternal communion in their daily lives.

In the realm of the apostolate they express a certain fear of having their aspirations blocked, including because of the structures. There is also an awareness of their own limitations in passing on to others their own faith experience.

Hence their requests for help:

·in the search for a true communication of the faith in today’s world;
·to discover the concrete face of their suffering brothers and sisters and to reach out courageously to the world’s needy, to the poor;
·to be involved in the present life of their institute and not to be viewed merely as a hope for the future.