By Currents News Staff
Five months after the final document was produced at the Synod of Bishops on “Young people, the faith and vocational discernment,” Pope Francis traveled by helicopter to the Shrine of Loreto to sign his resulting magisterial document entitled “Christ Lives.”
On the Feast of the Annunciation, the Pope wanted to especially entrust the document to the Blessed Mother. Thus, he celebrated mass at the “Holy House,” where tradition says Mary was born, grew up and the angel Gabriel visited her.
The Pope said this new apostolic exhortation is an invitation for all youth to seek out their vocation. He explained it can be done in three steps: stopping to listen, personally discerning what has been heard, and making a decision to act.
“We must be ready and available to listen and welcome God’s voice,” The Holy Father said, “His design for our personal and social life cannot be perceived by staying on the surface, but by going to a deeper level, where moral and spiritual forces act.”
Pope Francis was only in Loreto for six hours, but he greeted many of the sick and even a group of deaf people. Before returning to Rome, he ate lunch with the bishops from the region.
“Christ Lives” is the Pope’s sixth document. It will serve as a map, helping the global Church implement and follow up the ideas created during the Synod. While the full text has not yet been released, the Vatican says it will be presented during a press conference in the upcoming days.
Yet, the Synod on youth will not end here. Other initiatives are expected in June, when some Synod participants will return to Rome to touch base on how the ideas from the Synod are being carried out in each of their countries.