Young people at WYD Lisbon (Vatican Media)
By Vatican News
Mar 4 2024
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is promoting a social media campaign aimed at helping people rediscover the relevance of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation for Young People and keeping the experience of World Youth Day alive.
In 2024, the Church will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the publication of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit. It was on Mar 25 2019, at the Holy House in Loretto, that Pope Francis signed the “letter” to young people that sealed the work of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, which had been held in the Vatican the previous year.
One of the novelties of the October 2018 Synod was the pre-Synodal gathering that involved young people from around the world, with reflections prepared in the local Churches with representatives of the younger generations.
Now, on the fifth anniversary of Christus vivit, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is offering its support to the group of young communicators participating in the Dicastery for Communication’s “Faith Communication in the Digital World” program through the design and production of a social media campaign for the official Facebook and Instagram accounts of World Youth Day (WYD).
Still relevant today
The campaign, which runs from Feb 25 through Apr 25, aims to bring together young people from around the world in a 12-week experience to share the current meaning and spirit of Christus vivit, as well as the fruits of the last WYD, which was held in Lisbon in 2023.
Taking inspiration from the keyword “alive,” participants intend for the “Faith Communication” project to keep the experience of World Youth Day alive in the digital space as well. Through inspirational videos, calls to action, and engagement, and with the contribution of WYD participants, young leaders, and youth ministers, they hope to make Pope Francis’ invitation their own: “You are the
and through inspirational videos, calls to action and engagement, the wish of the participants in the project “Faith Communication in the Digital World” is that this initiative – with the contribution of young people who have participated in WYD, their youth leaders and youth ministry ministers – can keep the experience of World Youth Day alive also in the digital space and make the Holy Father’s invitation their own: “You are the now of God, and He wants you to bear fruit” (CV, 178).
This project, available in several languages, can also be adopted by local Church bodies that want to transmit, in their own milieu, a spiritual reflection that reaches young people through social media networks. – Vatican News
