The "glamour" of our world
"can not satisfy the desire for happiness of the young" and "only Only
true friendship with God will break the bonds of loneliness from which
our fragile humanity suffers and will establish a true and lasting
communion with others".
The churches’ concern towards the younger
generation in the Philippines today, who face not only the problems
related to development, but also the challenge of secularism was the
focus of Benedict XVI’s address to the bishops of that country at the
end their five-yearly "ad Limina" visit.
"While - he said - the Philippines continues to face many
challenges in the area of economic development, we must recognize that
these obstacles to a life of happiness and fulfilment are not the only
stumbling blocks that must be addressed by the Church. Filipino culture
is also confronted with the more questions inherent to the secularism,
materialism, and consumerism of our times".
Hence the Pope’s particular recommendation to focus on evangelisation. In
this task, he stressed, "that new initiatives in evangelization will
only be fruitful if, by the grace of God, those proposing them are
people who truly believe and live the message of the Gospel themselves."
"This
- he added – is surely one of the reasons why basic ecclesial
communities have had such a positive impact throughout the country."
"When
formed and guided by people whose motivating force is the love of
Christ, these communities have proven themselves to be worthy tools of
evangelization as they work in conjunction with local parishes."
In a Church that while continuing to grow needs a greater
number of priests, finally, Benedict XVI urged the pastoral care of
young people that "leads to the primacy of God in their hearts, tends
inherently to result not only in vocations to Christian marriage but
also in plentiful callings of all kinds".