“The path of synodality is the path that God expects of the Church in the third millennium.” (Speech by Pope Francis, 17/10/2015)
The RPJ was founded 65 years ago and has experienced significant growth in recent years, especially after the pandemic. As part of this process, last Friday, 29 November, the IV. Annual Assembly of the institutions that make up this youth work network took place last Friday, 29 November. The meeting was held with a core on site in Madrid, another in Bogotá and several people online. In total, 26 ecclesial institutions (many of them with a collaboration agreement) from different countries in Latin America and Spain are participating in this synodal journey for the evangelisation of young people.
The meeting began with a review of the main points of the final document of the last Synod of our Church, which dealt with the digital theme. Point 113, for example, states that local churches should support and guide those engaged in digital mission. Christian-inspired digital communities and groups, especially those made up of young people, are encouraged to consider how they can foster a sense of belonging, facilitate encounters and dialogue, offer peer-to-peer counselling and adopt a synodal approach to the work of the church.
We see this invitation from the Church as an affirmation of our role and mission. This community meeting has encouraged us to embark on a common journey.
Representatives of the following organisations are currently participating in the RPJ: Escolapios (Betania, Catalunya, Central America-Caribbean, Chile, Emmaus and Nazareth), ICCE Spain, ICCE Colombia, Edelvives Foundation, Oblates of the Most Holy Redeemer Europe, Vedrunas Spain, Challenge international, Maristas Ibérica and Acción Católica General España. We would also like to thank the following organisations: the Archdiocese of Madrid, the Instituto de PJ Cardenal Pironio in Argentina, Católicos en red in Spain, La Salle in Spain and Portugal, the Marianists in Spain, the Fundación Educativa Ángeles Galino in Mexico, the Capuchins in Spain, Chrismon in Spain, Adsis, Itaka-Escolapios and Movimiento Calasanz.
We would also like to thank Juan Carlos de la Riva, a Piarist religious, for his commitment in coordinating the RPJ over the last eight years. We are pleased to announce that Jon Calleja of the Piarist Brothers will be taking over this role. During his tenure, Juan Carlos has driven the reorganisation of the RPJ into a more open network, with the aim of becoming a channel for divine mediation in the digital world and facilitating the implementation of quality pastoral processes tailored to the needs of the young generation.
The second part of the meeting was to review this year’s work of the RPJ teams in order to evaluate and identify the most important aspects for further development. There are currently five main teams that meet regularly online: The teams are as follows: Promoters, Education, Youth Network, Content and Communications.
The teams are responsible for a range of groups, including formators, young people, authors and other pastoral workers who facilitate the implementation of various initiatives. In total, around 60 people from different countries, charisms, age groups and professions contribute to the provision of materials for reflection. These include the free bi-monthly magazine, customised online training courses and the annual diploma course, as well as testimonies disseminated through networking campaigns and webinars. In addition, a collection of practical pastoral resources for youth work is available at www.rpj.es
On the same Saturday, we hosted an open webinar on our YouTube channel in which four authors from our latest issues discussed the topic of identity formation.
With more than 500 views we can already watch the recording at: Masterclass: Accompanying and Building Identity in Youth Ministry
Finally, we ended our meeting with a prayer inviting us to prepare for this Advent in which we want to continue to nourish our hope for a more human world, together with so many young people who are in search of what God dreams for them.
