As Pope Benedict XVI said, “There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles anchored firmly in the Word of Christ.” 1 It is important to be aware that the exposure and experiences that teenagers have shape how they live their faith now and in the future. In adulthood, they will be asked to engage the faith and share it with their children, friends, and co-workers. This priority focuses on resources to help our youth encounter Christ’s love, creating a sense of belonging, empowerment, vibrancy, and richness of the faith in an ever-challenging culture.

• Become Stronger in Faith. When young people encounter the Gospel and embrace it, their vibrant faith is an inspiration to the whole Church. By challenging young people to be heroically faithful to Christ, their response can be a powerful witness to the joy that comes from living a life of vigorous, active faith.

• Celebrate Joyfully in Hope. Living as they do in the midst of a world that has often lost sight of the meaning of authentic love, the hunger of young people to experience love can only be fully satisfied by Christ. Thus, encountering Him in the Eucharist, young people can joyfully and convincingly live out the promises of their Baptism and Confirmation, since their ultimate goal, having come to know Christ, will be eternal life with Him in Heaven.

• Serve in Charity. Christ calls each of us to holiness in the context of our everyday lives and circumstances. Thus, when they are animated with the love of Christ through their own interior lives, young people will take up the challenge to joyful service and to charitable activities, beginning among their families and friends, and extending out to their schools and communities.

OVERALL GOALS:

1. Providing access to a trained, vibrant and faithful youth minister in each parish or
   as a joint effort of a number of parishes.
2. Praying for and encourage young men and women to discern their vocation in life,
   guiding them to aspire to be true disciples of Christ.
3. Fostering activities for youth of diverse ethnic cultures, offering them formation
   opportunities and encouraging them to evangelize.
4. Training high school students in leadership, encouraging personal participation in
   evangelizing and community service initiatives in cooperation with the Office
   for Education.

1. Creating a Diocesan Youth Committee that will organize diocesan-wide events, create inspiring activities and assess the effectiveness of such programs.
2. Organizing yearly youth rallies and other diocesan events for teenagers such as retreats and pilgrimages through the Youth Ministry.
3. Creating a web page for the diocesan youth, providing resources for youth ministers, and networking capabilities.
4. Enhancing the formation and the spiritual development of youth ministers, empowering them in their ministry, and assisting parishes in the creation of more youth groups, reaching out to Catholic and public middle and high school students.
5. Supporting youth of diverse cultures in their faith formation, spiritual development, and evangelization programs by offering retreats, workshops and seminars.
6. Updating the Pastoral Guidelines for preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Developing a program for Confirmation that includes a comprehensive review of the faith, engaging parents in the process, and guiding them towards future involvement in parish youth groups.
7. Bringing together a diocesan retreat team for local events at parishes; involving young adults from local universities to participate in the evangelization of young people.
8. Inviting all faithful to discern and live fully their vocation in life through the activities of the Office of Vocations according to the strategic plan developed for vocations, such as vocation fairs, vocational summer camps, retreats, vocation clubs, and other activities.2
9. Promoting the attainment of religious awards in youth organizations such as Catholic Scouting.
10. Organizing presentations and workshops on the importance of chastity, teaching youth of Catholic and public middle and high schools how by “becoming men and women according to Jesus’ plan demands sacrifices, but these are by no means negative; on the contrary, they are a help in living as people with new hearts, in living a truly human and happy life.3 ” Workshops will be also offered to parents, so as to help them address this issue. 4
    
    

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    2 The Office of Vocations has developed a strategic plan for vocations: “Every disciple has a vocation,” which calls everyone to fulfill the mission of Christ as disciples of the Lord, and respond to their specific vocation.
    3 Benedict XVI, Meeting with the Youth of Rome and the Lazio Region in Preparation for the XXI World Youth Day, April 6, 2006.
    4 Cf. related strategy in the priority Cultivating Family and Life, diocesan strategy no. 8.

1. Inviting qualified laity to respond to the call to become a youth minister or to participate in this ministry.
2. Creating vibrant youth groups in each parish or in clusters of parishes which respond to local cultural diversity and other specific needs. Centering these groups on the Eucharist, stressing the Sunday Mass and the importance of a solid life of prayer. 5 Offer them formation, opportunities for evangelization, and community service. 6
3. Using technology to enhance community-building and sharing among young people.
4. Inviting parishioners to pray for vocations and helping young people to consider discerning their calling to the priesthood, consecrated life, or married life. Led by the priests, creating a community effort and support among all parishioners to help young people to respond to their specific calling. Identifying a person to be a liaison with the Office of Vocations, promoting the Office’s activities.
5. Offering formative, dynamic, and challenging Confirmation programs and inviting candidates and parents to follow up on that experience by joining parish youth groups.
6. Encouraging youth to participate in the diocesan youth activities throughout the year.
   
   

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   5 42 Cf. related strategies in the priority the Liturgy, see all parish strategies.
   6 43 Cf. related strategies in the priority Active in Charity, parish strategies nos. 1, 5.

1. Developing a specific plan for the high schools to further cultivate the spiritual life of students, highlighting their Catholic identity.
2. Organizing a yearly Evangelization Leadership Retreat for students who hear the calling of actively transmitting the faith to others. 7
3. Organizing activities that promote Christian attitudes toward human sexuality, fostering chastity. 8
4. Inviting students to be advocates for life in all its stages, and to participate annually in the March for Life in Washington, publicly witnessing to the sacredness of all human life. 9
5. Fostering the involvement of students in parish youth groups, inviting them to respond to their specific vocation, and become future leaders and evangelizers in their parish community. 10
6. Inviting students to discern their vocation in life, encouraging them to participate in the activities offered by the Office of Vocations. 11
   
   

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   7 Cf. related strategy in the priority Inspiring Youth, diocesan strategy no. 7.
   8 Cf. related strategy in the priority Inspiring Youth, diocesan strategy no. 10.
   9 Cf. related strategy in the priority Cultivating Family and Life, diocesan strategy no. 8.
   10 Cf. related strategy in the priority Inspiring Youth, parish strategy no. 2.
   11 Cf. related strategy in the priority Inspiring Youth, diocesan strategy no. 8.