Congo Brazzaville Catholic Bishops Encourage Youth Formation to Build a Just, Peaceful Society

To those engaged in Priestly and religious formation, the Catholic Church leaders underscored the need for “rigorous discernment of the seminarian or the novice” to ensure that candidates’ motivations correspond with the demands of their vocation. 

They called on formators to serve as witnesses, not merely instructors, recalling Pope Paul VI’s teaching that “the contemporary man listens more willingly to witnesses than to masters.”

Formation, they further noted, must prepare future leaders to study and respond creatively to the realities of life within their own context.

Guidance to Seminarians and Novices

The CEC members reminded Seminarians and Novices that they have been “called by God in particular circumstances to be configured to Christ.” 

They urged them to live the “four proximities” recommended by Pope Francis—closeness to God in prayer, to the bishop and authority in obedience, to one another in fraternity, and to the people of God in service.

The Catholic Bishops also warned against the misuse of modern technology, encouraging ethical use of “Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok” to preserve “truth, confidentiality, and the right to private life.”

Addressing Youth Violence

The CEC members expressed concern about the “worrisome rise of youth violence,” describing the trend as an expression of “deep ill-being and self-affirmation” and call for preventive pastoral and educational measures. 

They emphasized that the solution requires “intellectual, cultural, and sporting activities,” echoing the pedagogy of St. Don Bosco, who emphasized listening, music, theater, and other forms of youth development.

“The implementation of a good educational policy must truly be the business of all workers, apostolic workers, civil and political authorities, parents, teachers, and ordinary citizens,” they said, citing the African proverb that “it takes a whole village to educate a child.”

Appeal to Young People

To children and youth, CEC members said, “You are the bearers of this new hope, which means communion, participation, and mission.” 

They urged young people to resist the “mirages and illusions of modernity,” warning against “false cults of youth, the lure of appearance, superficial life, drugs, and banditry.” 

The Bishops appealed to the young people to become “evangelizers of your environment,” and to help build a Church “without rivalry and without crush.”

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The Catholic Church leaders further invited Apostolic movements to bring a “prophetic word, lucid and rooted in the Gospel, able to clarify social and political issues without compromise.” 

They also urged the people of God to take their rightful place in society as “artisans of peace and justice,” reminding them of their mission to be “the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”

The Bishops called on politicians to exercise their duties as “a charity mission,” noting that “the greatest challenge to achieve justice and peace in Africa is to manage well the public affairs in the two connected domains of politics and economics.”

They reaffirmed their desire to see the Church in Congo foster a “fraternal society, peaceful, based on justice and solidarity.” 

The Bishops emphasized that evangelization cannot be separated from the “promotion of the family and the dignity of the person,” and call all to become “messengers and builders of hope.”