CNA Staff, Jul 27, 2020 / 14:00 pm
Last weekend, a group of 300 Catholics, including 30 bishops and the apostolic nuncio to the United States, kicked off a yearlong initiative by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops aimed at improving relations with young people.
The program, called "Journeying Together," launched across the weekend of July 25-26. It was originally scheduled to begin with an in-person conference to be held July 23-26 in Cleveland, but was moved online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In-person meetings are not expected to resume until 2021.
The initiative is sponsored by the USCCB's Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, together with the secretariats of Catholic Education and of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. It is running in collaboration with the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and the National Dialogue on Catholic Pastoral Ministry with Youth and Young Adults.
According to the USCCB, Journeying Together aims to "meet, listen to, engage, collaborate with, and celebrate young people of all cultures," as well as to "assess the intercultural fruitfulness of the Church's approach to youth and young adults," "discern adequate and actionable responses to identified pastoral needs of young people," and "be inspired to act after prayerful reflection on Pope Francis' Christus Vivit."