Hope in a time of Crisis

Online spring conference for Redemptorists and RYVM youth leaders from Europe

On Saturday 6 March, a meeting was held with European RYVM representatives, organised by the RYVM Commission of the European Conference. Given the impossibility of travelling due to the health emergency, the meeting took place online via the Zoom platform and had as its central theme “Hope in times of crisis”. About 85 people were present, representing the various local youth ministry realities, including the Superior General, Fr. Michael Brehl, the Coordinator of the European Conference, Fr. Johannes Römelt, some fathers of the General Government and of the Conference, the confreres responsible for the various Provincial Secretariats and many young representatives of the different local realities. Many Provinces were present including Rome, Naples, Spain, France, St Clemens, Dublin, Warsaw, Bratislava-Prague. There was also representation from the Province of Baltimore.

The official language was English, but due to many participants and to facilitate communication, simultaneous translation was offered in three different languages: Italian, Spanish and Polish.

To start the meeting in the best possible way, there was a beautiful moment of prayer which put our hearts in the right disposition and prepared us to listen to the message of greeting from our Superior General, Fr Michael. Gerard O’Connor who gave a very accurate analysis of the world of youth today. He also offered a lot of food for thought for the next moment. The participants were divided into 10 micro-groups of 9-10 people according to their linguistic background for about 40 minutes. In the various groups, the participants were able to share their experiences and reflections.

The synthesis of these sharings were then reported in the plenary session and collected in a general concluding summary. We could not end our meeting with a final moment of prayer in which, each in his or her own language, we addressed the Father and our Perpetual Helper, Mary.

Fabrizio Podda C.Ss.R., Italy