by Griselda Mutual
In the Latin American context, Uruguay stands out as a strongly secularized country. What are the realities and expectations of young people in your country?
The young Uruguayans who are in the life of the Church at this time have a strong missionary impulse, also because the Church in Uruguay and, especially in Montevideo, is in a spirit of mission, that is, it feels it has to go out and announce. We are preparing a great mission for Easter next year ... There are also young people who are not in the Church and there are different experiences: from young people who are thinking about leaving the country, which unfortunately are many, to young people living in dramatic situations, related to drugs, delinquency ... All this constitutes a series of difficulties and also of different types of young people and expectations.
What is the relationship between young Uruguayans and the Catholic Church?
Uruguay is a very particular country in the context of Latin America, because it has undergone a strong secularization ... In many young people there is indifference towards the Church ... But those who are, say, participants, are young people with a great affection towards of the Church and with a missionary spirit, with love for Jesus and a great Marian devotion, which is something, if you want, of "new", because it has acquired a very great strength in these more recent times.
What would you say today to a young person to bring him or her closer to Jesus?
I would try to "introduce" Jesus Christ to them, because it is Jesus who continues to fascinate, to the extent that we truly meet Him. The point is "to be the bridge". In the Gospel there is the figure of Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, who had met Jesus. He ran to his brother to tell him: "We have found the Messiah". And what he does is take him to Jesus and Jesus meets Simon, who He will call Peter. Therefore, I believe that today the theme is to try to bring young people closer to Jesus, and for this reason, the encounter with the Gospel, with the Word, is very important; that is, that they read the Gospel, take the Gospel in their hands and there to discover the Lord more.
