The 3rd meeting of Black Sea Agora Youth, with the theme inspired by Pope Francis post-synodal exhortation CHRISTUS VIVIT: «IN FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST, IN FRIENDSHIP WITH ALL PEOPLE» took place in the Odessa – Ukraine from 23 to 27 October 2019
40 Participants from: Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine.
The young people who live in the Black Sea countries, in the countries where the roots of Christianity are evident also due to the ancient presence of the first Christian communities, today live in isolation and find it difficult to experience the concrete and living catholicity of our Church. The aim of this project was to offer opportunities to deepen the Christian identity thanks to the association proposal of the Catholic Action.
The Seminar took piace in Ukraine, in Odessa from 23 to 27 October for young people from the countries of the enlarged Black Sea region – Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Georgia and national level of lay apostolate in Ukraine with different dioceses and eparchies. Also 2 people from FIAC secretariat attended – Maria Grazia Tibaldi the secretary based in Rome and Gioele Anni – as speaker because he pass part of all the events related to the Synod on youth.
The seminar was addressed to the young people involved in the life of the local Church, in collaboration with the bishops and for those responsible in the groups of youth ministry. The participants were representatives of their countries with a good knowledge of the situation of society and of the life of the Church so that they become “multipliers”, subjects able to involve other young people on their return. On planning the seminar we took into account the coexistence of the two rites of the Catholic Church in almost ali these countries and the ecumenical context.
The seminar was space to discover together in the realities of the Black Sea and European Mediterranean countries in arder to foster synergies between local realities. A common project with young people of the Black Sea as protagonists was a concrete outcome of the seminar – a project for deepen and share faith, seeking new syntheses and spaces to live creatively together.
An implicit purpose was specifically connected to the context in which the seminar took place and which allow us to get to know the very complex Ukrainian reality from within and Odessa in particular.
