Pastoral Letter for the Year of Youth 2018, 

Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands

By Fr. Ambrose Pereira, SDB

Port Moresby, PNG, 12 January 2018 -- Also the Bishops of PNG-SI declared in their letter of 25 September 2017 (Feast of Blessed Martyr John Mazzuconi, PIME) the Year of Youth. The Letter is signed by the President of the Bishops Conference, Rochus Tamatai, MSC and contains some very practical youth ministry points both for the pastors and for the young people:

"... The response of Mary at the Annunciation is the model for vocation discernment and for all who seek to respond to God's call. As we reflect at Mary's experience of vocation, we can learn how to promote and discern vocations among the youth of our own time:

1. Build Christian families
2. Introduce God to your children early in their life (Luke Gospel 2.52)
3. Create family that pray
4. Pray for the young people and believe in their capacity to make heroic sacrifices
5. Do not overlook the simple and humble (consider non-selected students grades 9 or 11)
6. Offer your children to God and accompany them in the discernment of God's plan for them
7. Entrust the young to Mary
8. Involve the young in the Church activities and teach them the way of joyful service
9. Pray for vocations and actively promote vocations
10. Challenge young people to be holy!

At the end of the letter the Bishops also address explicitely the Youth:

'My dear young people, as your Pastors, would like to exhort you and affirm that:

1. You are loved (cf. beloved disciple of Jesus)
2. God has a dream for each one of you (cf. just like Joseph, David or Mary)
3. You are called to discover the dream (The Father has placed His dream deep within your heart)
4. Be not afraid to follow the dream of the Father."

Among the PNG-SI population the vast majority are the Young People, and again most of them are Christians! We pray that this invitation of the PNG-SI Bishops will bring growth of vocation culture around all Catholic communities!

Full text of the PNG and Solomon Islands Bishops Letter for the Year of the Young

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