蜜芽传媒

Good morning. Young people are beginning to form protest movements that can鈥檛 easily be ignored by those in positions of power. In the United States, thousands of students have been walking out of their schools in protest against gun violence. An iconic image of that movement is the more than 7,000 pairs of shoes left on the lawn outside the Capitol 鈥� one pair for every child killed by guns in that country since 2012. In Britain in recent weeks, some students from some universities have joined lecturers on picket lines in support of their strike over threatened cuts to academic pensions. And the Vatican has woken up to the challenges posed by the next generation. As one American headline put it 鈥� 鈥淐hurch joins quest to figure out what makes Millennials tick.鈥�

In October this year, a Synod of Bishops will gather in Rome to discuss the theme of 鈥淵oung People, Faith and Vocational Discernment.鈥� This week, 300 young people from around the world have been invited to the Vatican to share their views, in preparation for that event. It presents a great opportunity for those bishops and cardinals who really are willing to listen.

I was recently in Rome at an event to celebrate International Women鈥檚 Day. For the past four years that event has been hosted inside the Vatican, but this year two participants were refused permission to speak 鈥� former president of Ireland Mary McAleese, and Ugandan gay rights campaigner Ssenfuka Joanita Warry 鈥� so the event was moved to a different venue.

The banning of McAleese, herself the mother of a married gay son, received widespread media coverage, but the banning of Warry was no less concerning. This young Catholic lesbian is a brave advocate for social justice in a country where stigmatisation and violence, including so-called 鈥渃orrective rape鈥�, are facts of daily life for women like her.

The Church鈥檚 teachings on same-sex relationships hasn鈥檛 changed, but Pope Francis famously asked, 鈥淲ho am I to judge?鈥� He has also championed the importance of dialogue, and he emphasises that this entails speaking with courage and honesty, listening without judgement, and accepting that conflict is an unavoidable aspect of healthy relationships. Not all his fellow bishops agree with him. Yet at a time when young people are showing a deep sense of social justice and a willingness to speak out on many issues, including those to do with gender and sexuality, I hope that leaders of the Catholic Church will be open to dialogue. Otherwise, I fear that the scripture verse which comes most readily to mind is Jesus鈥檚 reference to the religious leaders of his time as blind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23: 24)

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