Young Catholics in Argentina committed to political involvement

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jul 19, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Participants in the Encounter of Young Political and Social Leaders, which took place this month in Argentina and was organized by the Youth Ministry Office of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina, have published their conclusions agreed to during the event, stating that young people must “bear witness and commit in body and soul to participate in the political, social and trade union structures of our country.”

Likewise, they agreed that the basis for their political action should be made up of the values, virtues and culture of work.  The problem facing their society is not economic or political, they noted, but moral.  “This is the true cause of poverty in our country,” they emphasized.

According to the young people who participated in the event, economic models “should be subordinate to political program-models that respond to the needs of the poorest of the poor in our country.”  “The profile of a politician should be oriented towards new ideas and being a visionary.  His or her formation is indispensable so that the policies that should dignify the communities in which we live are not left to improvisation.”

The young people noted that “unity and reconciliation, with respect and silent and fertile work” will open the way “to dialogue and action in overcoming the political structures that are supposed to be responding to the community we are called to serve,” they said. 

Addressing the young people at the end of the encounter, Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Lozano of Buenos Aires recalled that “God, who provides for us, will never lead us down a dead-end road toward iniquity.”