Online Meeting – Conclusions Online Meeting Youth Committee Sunday, May 28, 2023
Assistants
Antonio Ortiz – Mexico (He)
Robert Shine – USA (He)
Alvaro Salazar – Peru (He)
Eros Shaw – China (He)
Zamina Didier – UK (He)
Kristína Buchelová – Slovakia (She)
Guillermo Quintanilla – UK / El Salvador (He)
Oscar Salvador – Mexico (He)
Arnaldo Aldana – Paraguay
Objective
Our intention was to listen to the voices of young people within the Project of Pastoral Care for Sexual Diversity to generate work and accompaniment projects together with GNRC.
Team Work
In periods of 15 minutes, the participants shared the LIGHTS (strengths), SHADOWS (weaknesses) and HORIZONS (ideas to strengthen the project) of Youth Pastoral as people of sexual diversity. Here we share the conclusions:
Lights
- The initiative to have communities of Sexual Diversity within the Catholic Church since there was the only reference to this type of work in other Christian denominations.
- These spaces or communities are led by people from the same LGBTIQ+ community.
- The new generations live their sexual identity/orientation more freely and not out of guilt.
- In some countries, there is already an opening in specific projects within religious spaces that welcome different diversities, such as Masses (for Inclusion), Art and Poetry Spaces, Meals Together, and Workshops on Diversity and Faith issues; these activities have helped to generate new communities.
- Recognition of the Christian Life Communities (CLC) that have been of great support.
Shadows
- Today the Church is not being a friendly option for young people in general, and even less so for young people of sexual diversity. The work proposal is outdated.
- Hate speech within the Church.
- There is no good communication with older generations who do not respect and invalidate the voices of young people.
- Cultural factors affect, and many sectors prefer to preserve, “traditions.”
- By denying the LGBTIQ+ community access to the sacraments, they make us feel undeserving and, therefore not belonging to the Church.
- Rejection of diverse people from their own families.
- “Conversion therapies.”
- The apathy of young people to create diverse spaces within the Catholic Church.
- Young people lack resources (including financial ones) that do not allow them to carry out projects that meet their own needs.
- The Catholic Church, in general, is not open to addressing diversity issues in Catholic spaces; even those who coordinate priests, religious or lay people censor this type of topic.
Horizons
- Openness to work with new methodologies to get closer to young people: be a forum open to their initiatives.
- Stand in solidarity with human rights activists.
- Seek to be more visible, not only on social networks but in specific activities: have a greater number of LGBTIQ+ life models to follow.
- Make a WYD attendee list of GNRC communities and, following the example of WYD Krakow in 2016, find spaces in parks for easy conversation with others. This creates opportunities for dialogue.
- GNRC can support by helping to share stories, such as “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”, about the experiences of Chinese Catholic LGBTI people in different countries.