KENYA: The hashtag Church (#Church) receives more comments from young people participating in the Pre-Synod Meeting via Social Network
The question on what should be the characteristics of the Church which is enlightening, attractive and credible to young generations, one which has the ability to engender respect and attractiveness in them seem to interest a great number of young people who participated in the Pre-Synod Meeting via Social Media, Facebook.
from Kenyatta University
Collins Ongoma, a student at Kenyatta University who hails from Ngong Diocese in Kenya and who has been keen on the meeting told AMECEA Online News that he participated in the meeting via Facebook and found the interactions quite enlightening.
Having registered to participate in the conversation, Collins was able to go through the comments of each hashtag and discovered that the #Church was the most commented about, an indication of great interest in the issue.
“There were questions put under fifteen hashtags which were posted for us to participate in by giving our views before a deadline. I managed to answer nine out of fifteen,” Collins said adding that he mobilized a number of his colleagues from the Youth Small Christian Community to contribute to the discussions.
Collins who apart from participating through Facebook followed the meeting via YouTube said that he learnt several things from the different experiences shared by the young people from different countries when they were given the opportunities to share.
Photo courtesy of the internet
“The comments were very interactive and young people were quite open, they shared the real issues which many of us actually do relate to and I am grateful that the Holy Father responded to the questions asked and directly and instantly.”
Young people had been encouraged to participate in the meeting by means of social network and were encouraged to let their voices be heard, so that the outcome of the meeting would best express the ideas of young people throughout the world.
The fifteen questions where comments were made under the hashtags include the following:
#WhoAmI: The formation of personality. In these times, what relationships, emotional experiences, specific events and places primarily determines the identity of younger generations
#Differences: Relationships with different people. What challenges and opportunities come to light in our increasingly interconnected, multicultural and inter religious world, where, unfortunately, differences and divisions are intensifying?
#Future: Young People and the future. What dreams do young people have for themselves and for the society in which they live? How are they striving to realize these aspirations?
#DigitalWorld: The relationship with technology. How does technology today, with its new opportunities and unprecedented dangers, contribute to determining young people’s identity and way of life?
#InteriorLife: The Search for meaning in life. What relation exists between the daily lives of the young people and their experience of the sacred, spiritual realities and religion?
#Jesus: Young people and Jesus. How is the person of Jesus as recounted in the scriptures, perceived by the young people of the third millennium?
#IBelieve: Faith and the Church. How do young people today live their personal faith in Jesus? What is their relationship with the ecclesial community?
#Called: Vocational Discernment. What tools can be useful and what moments are best suited to helping a young person make life’s basic choices in the Church and the world?
#Guide: Young people and accompaniment. What should be the characteristics of a trustworthy person, who is suited to accompanying young people today on life’s journey?
#Church: The Church’s manner of acting. what should be the characteristics of the Church which is enlightening, attractive and credible to young generations, one which has the ability to engender respect and attractiveness in them?
#ActivelyInvolved: Young leading figures. What are the preferred areas, in both society and the Church, where young people, with their talents and enthusiasm, can really be involved in the mission of the Church today?
#Places: Preferred places. What are the more important places, among others, for encountering young people where they are, and accompanying them and offering them the light of faith?
#Proposals: The initiatives to be reinforced. What specific initiatives appear to be more appropriate to attract the interest of young people, so that they can fully grow as persons?
#WaysAndMeans: Instruments to be used. Which approaches appear to be the most accessible and what are the most effective ways of generating among young people a sense of vocation, attentiveness to one’s neighbour and grace-filled life?
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
