The gathering in Rome is intent on keeping up the appearance of debate
What are they on about? That is the question a lot of people are asking when it comes to the youth synod. Last Thursday’s briefing in the synod hall offers a case in point: eye-opening for several reasons, not least of which was the insight it offered into the concerns of synod fathers, synod managers – including media managers – auditors and reporters.
At the start of the briefing, Paolo Ruffini, the prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, rehearsed what he considered to be the most salient points of the discussion from the floor. Included were the usual talking points: listening, accompanying, journeying together, meeting young people “where they are”, etc. He also noted talk of the opportunity to create a “digital space” for dialogue. He also reported the speech of one young auditor, to the effect that the youth of the world were counting on the synod fathers to produce “something concrete” and were confident the synod fathers would deliver.
