Bishops, priests and more than 200 young people from Uruguay and Argentina gathered in Paysandu this week to participate in the 28th National Youth Day, organized by the Youth Ministry Office of the Bishops’ Conference of Uruguay.  The theme of the event was “Jesus Christ unites us; the river does too.”

The event is seen as a sign of fraternity between the two countries in the wake of a conflict over the construction of paper factories on their shared border.

Bishop Jorge Lozano, head of Youth Ministry for the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina, and Bishop Pablo Galimberti, Conference president, as well as bishops and priests from both countries participated in the event.

During the principal Mass of the gathering, Bishop Galimberti said seeing the conflict through the eyes of faith provides a perspective that is much broader than that of other analysts, diplomats and leaders.

“The problems are here and we are not going to ignore them, but today we wish to celebrate the common faith expressed in this strong and tight embrace in Christ, who feeds us with his Body,” he added.

The idea to bring together young people from both countries was suggested by Bishop Lozano, who proposed the meeting to several bishops in Argentina as a sign of fraternity between the two countries.  On October 1st a National Youth Day will be held in Argentina as well, giving the young people from Uruguay a chance to travel to their neighboring country to repeat the experience.