With the intention of making known the different initiatives of youth protagonism and action in the Piarist realities, this month we present in more detail the bold project of the Piarist Youth of Brazil. It was born in mid-2017 to be a possible continuation of the process of the groups that already existed in the Calasanz Movement, but which at that time did not have a concrete offer for young people, especially after the Sacrament of Confirmation.
In this sense, Piarist Youth was born as a response to the desire to create a channel for the Piarist mission by offering life paths, mission, formation and the strengthening of bonds between young people. After an intense dialogue that took into account all the experiences of listening and the proposals of the synodal process that the Church and the Piarist Schools have experienced, in 2019 the milestones of the above-mentioned project were established, giving a format, itinerary and lines of action, establishing a continuous process for this phase of youth. Today, almost eight years after its beginning, the proposal of the Piarist youth in the Calasanz Movement is already a consolidated reality in practically all the Piarist presences in Brazil, with a solid call to protagonism of the youth in the life and mission of the presences. The members of the groups, which today already count about a hundred participants in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Governador Valadares, Aracajú and Serra, carry out different activities that, in addition to maintaining the educational offer of the stage, also offer moments of spirituality, sports activities, social actions and daily accompaniment in the works: Parishes, schools, social centres, etc.
In this process, we emphasise the creation of activities such as holiday camps for the youngest, camps, retreats, common life, participation in ecclesial events and exchanges between existing groups, with the prospect of very soon having experiences of missionary sending of young people to other places. All these activities are important to strengthen the Piarist identity of the groups, which even today open up a horizon of great hope for the Piarist realities in which these young members of the Piarist youth are active, building in the present a future full of life and daring, in which they all play a leading role.
Guilherme de Oliveira
