4 Youth Proposals for the Future of the Catholic Church in Belgium
As Pope Francis visits the country, young volunteers from TFP Student Action Europe are taking a stand.
They're visiting parishes and events, distributing a manifesto that aims to encourage reflection among the faithful and, especially, to address the concerning direction taken by some Church leaders.
With the Universal Synod approaching, this manifesto seeks to shine a light on the deep crisis within the Church and offer four key proposals that could help bring young people back to the faith.
Here's a brief look at the points they're emphasizing:
1 - "Instaurare Omnia In Christo" (Eph 1:10)
Since the 1960s, many changes have been made to the life of the Church under the pretext of adapting to the modern world and attracting young people. The result has been catastrophic: churches have emptied and the number of candidates for the priesthood has plummeted. Today, one of the bishops' major concerns is how many churches will have to be closed and put up for sale... The number of funerals far exceeds the number of baptisms.
So-called progressive communities are aging and have no prospects for the future. However, parishes that promote traditional piety, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, processions, the rosary, novenas, etc. are attracting young people.
Faced with this now public and notorious reality, further "modernizing" the Church by promoting a change in its teaching and pastoral practice is not only doctrinally wrong, but suicidal.
Our first filial proposal to the Church authorities is therefore to restore everything in Christ, i.e. to return to the immemorial practices which, century after century, have attracted multitudes of young people.
2 - Leadership in the defense of innocent life and the family as God created it
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent reversal of the ill-fated Roe v. Wade decision proves that the fight against abortion is not only possible, but that it can achieve concrete victories. The Catholic hierarchy cannot remain silent in the face of this avalanche of murders that "cry out for vengeance before the face of God", to quote the old catechisms.
The militant base of the pro-life movement is made up mainly of young people. If the Church in Belgium is to retain or attract them to its ranks, it must once again become the great bulwark in the fight to defend innocent human life.
Catholics must take the lead in the Pro-Life movement in the name of their faith, adding the full dynamic of a Crusade in Defense of Life, to be consistent with their conviction that abortion is an abominable crime and a grave transgression of the Fifth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill".
The defense of innocent human life is correlative to the battle for the family as God created it. Today, the basic unit of society is under attack from "gender ideology", which denies the difference between the sexes that God inscribed in human nature: "Male and female He created them" (Gn 1:27). The Catholic Church is, and always will be, the bastion of the defense of the traditional family based on indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman, with the primary aim of procreating and educating their children.
3 - Away from the German Synodaler Weg
1 Last February, the Belgian bishops promulgated a "bold" draft text for the next general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, with proposals similar to those of the German Synodaler Weg, such as ending the obligation of ecclesiastical celibacy and the ordination of women to the diaconate.
The facts don't lie: after the German synodal process, the exodus of the faithful from these communities has increased dramatically. Meanwhile, the more conservative communities are flourishing and full of young people, despite the harassment they face.
To continue along the path of ecclesial "progressivism", despite its disastrous effects over recent decades, would demonstrate a sectarian desire to destroy what remains of the influence of the Holy Church in Belgium and Europe for the benefit of a moribund ideology.
4 - Refusing to apply the principles of the Fiducia Supplicans declaration
Finally, we propose that all Belgian Catholics ask their bishops to reject the principles and implementation in Belgium of the Fiducia Supplicans declaration, following the example of their confreres in Africa, whose fidelity to the Gospel and missionary drive animate many priests who today head various parishes and religious orders in Belgium and throughout Western Europe.
In addition to contradicting two thousand years of Catholic teaching, this statement has done nothing but sow division within the Church.
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We hope that the voice the voice of young practicing Catholics will be heard by the Belgian bishops during Pope Francis' visit to our country.
1. https://www.kerknet.be/kerknet...
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke’s words ring true today more than ever. Too many good men remain silent. But in the face of today’s growing crisis, silence is no longer an option. If we want to restore and protect the Christian roots of our civilization, we must act - and we must act now.
The family, the very heart of society, is under relentless attack.
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