Pope Francis has chosen four cardinals from countries where young people are facing special challenges to preside over sessions of the Synod of Bishops in October.
The Vatican announced on July 14 the Pope’s appointment of the presidents-delegate: Cardinals Louis Sako of Baghdad, the Chaldean patriarch; Desire Tsarahazana of Toamasina, Madagascar; Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar; and John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
The synod will meet at the Vatican from October 3-28 to discuss ‘young people, Faith and vocational discernment’. As presidents-delegate, the cardinals will alternate presiding over the synod sessions.
The four cardinals come from areas in the world that reflect several major issues outlined in the synod’s instrumentum laboris (working document) which emphasised the struggles of young Catholic men and women “who continue to live in situations of war or political instability” as well as those who suffer “discrimination and persecution to the point of martyrdom”.
Cardinal Sako witnessed the persecution of native Christians and their subsequent exodus from the country.
After his installation as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in 2013, the Iraqi prelate said the Church must be a sign of hope, witness and communion, despite the difficulties, and work with all Iraqis to defend human dignity and peaceful coexistence based on equal rights.
The synod will discuss the increasing number of young people living in precarious situations due to poverty, unemployment and marginalisation, an issue that is familiar to Cardinal Tsarahazana, who hails from one of the world’s poorest countries, with more than 90 percent of its population living below the $2 (€1.70)-a-day poverty line.
Cardinals Sako and Tsarahazana were elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis on June 28.
The synod’s working document also underlines the requests by many young people for a Church that works with “greater operational pragmatism” on key issues, including the protection of the environment.
Climate change is a key issue not only for the Pope, but also for Cardinal Ribat, who has been outspoken about the effects that rising ocean levels have had on his people. Scientists attribute higher seas to melting polar ice as greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels accumulate in the earth’s atmosphere, causing the planet to warm.
The synod also will address the marginalisation of young people who migrate with their families to other countries and are often victims of “different forms of racial or caste discrimination”.
