From 20 to 23 October 2022, the European symposium on the proclamation of faith will be held in Krakow at the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II, organised by the Youth Commission and the Catechesis Section of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) and by the Archdiocese of Krakow.
It will be the evangelical image of the story of the blind Bartimaeus, narrated in Mark 10: 46-52, that gives the title to the symposium and accompanies young people in their encounter with the Lord Jesus: “Get up, Christ is calling you!”. The title chosen is therefore part of the path indicated by Pope Francis for the next World Youth Day with the invitation to young people to stand up, which will culminate in the 2023 meeting in Lisbon: “Mary got up and went quickly” (Lk 1: 39).
In view of the Symposium, it was decided to organise an online meeting on 18 November 2021. The national delegates of the five pastoral sectors of Youth, School, University, Vocations and Catechesis that make up the areas of the symposium are invited to participate, as it was for the meeting held in Krakow in November 2019.
The idea is to resume the organisational phase, after the stop to the preparations for the symposium and the postponement of the date due to the coronavirus, whilst maintaining the structure and the programme of the symposium that are still valid: starting from the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit and what is being done in Europe after its publication, as well as adding a reflection on this year of Covid, of restrictions and lockdowns and what it has meant for young people and our communities.
In light of what this time of pandemic has meant and what it means for the future of our young people, the participants in the meeting are called to offer their contributions by presenting concrete proposals and suggestions for the preparation of the symposium. To be taken into consideration are the New Pastoral Guidelines for the celebration of WYD in local Churches, welcomed by many young people as a message of closeness and encouragement from the Church, and the diocesan phase of the Synod of Bishops on synodality which has just begun, at which space is given to listening and telling the life stories of individuals, groups and communities.