Voice of Youth speaks up on what God wants
Archbishop Christopher Prowse said he was blown away by the questions and comments provided by primary and secondary students from across the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese.
Students were invited to discuss the question that has been central to at all plenary listening and dialog sessions: “What does God want of the Catholic Church in Australia today?”
They not only provided mature and well-considered responses to that question, they also had a few questions of their own.
As part of the listening and dialog session on Tuesday, September 4, the senior students held a Q&A with the Archbishop and asked him many of the most important questions facing the church today, including:
- How do we make church more engaging?
- Shouldn’t the Church allow women to hold more prominent roles?
- How do we re-engage people who have turned from the church because of the abuse that occurred over many years?
Archbishop Prowse, after answering and discussing those and other questions with the students, praised them for the maturity of their questions, the amount of thought they’d put into them and the way they were articulated.
Following the senior Q&A, the Archbishop held a similar session with the junior students.
He complimented the students on the way they’d been able to focus on the key areas affecting the Church today, and encouraged them to continue in the discussion about shaping the Church around God’s wishes.
Earlier in the morning, participants engaged in a number of activities before splitting into the junior and senior groups, with the younger students creating works of art including clay, paintings, songs poems and even a rap.
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