On Saturday, August 20, an online meeting of the Redemptorist Youth Vocational Ministry (RYVM) was held. The event was open to confreres, leaders, young people, and members of the Redemptorist family. About 130 participantstook part in the meeting, which formed part of a series of encounters between the Superior General and the various groups and sectors of the Congregation. The theme that guided the meeting was “A Generation on the Move – Missionaries of Hope.”
The gathering began with an opening prayer, followed by a message from Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R., Superior General, who emphasized that young people are a fundamental part of the mission of both the Church and the Congregation. They are part of this “generation on the move,” called to proclaim with their lives that God is love, that Christ walks with us, and that hope is always possible, commented Fr. Cristian Bueno, C.Ss.R., Executive Secretary of the General Secretariat for Evangelisation, who also took part in the meeting.
Message of the Superior General
In his message, Father General stressed that, just like Redemptorist missionaries, young people in our pastoral groups are also called to mission. Through the energy, creativity, and courage that characterize youth, they can bring a refreshing dynamism to the renewal of proclaiming the Good News. He noted that the family, universities, and workplaces are special places of mission for young people. He also highlighted their important role in evangelizing through their influence on peers in social media.
The central message to the youth focused on the idea of giving life and moving forward. Young people are called in a special way to awaken faith in their environments. The passion for life, joy, and hope for a better future that lives in a young person’s heart becomes a driving force, urging them to set out and bring that hope to their peers, as well as to adults who may feel lost.
In conclusion, Father General emphasized that youth itself is a great source of hope, as it opens hearts to the future, to dreams, and to the determination to make those dreams come true.
The meeting was also an opportunity for young people to share their testimonies about how they understand and live out their missionary calling in the environments where they are present. Participants listened to testimonies from Nigeria, France, Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Slovakia.
There was also time for dialogue. The young participants asked many questions — some concerned vocational discernment and the challenges of pursuing their life dreams, while others were more practical, focusing on how to collaborate with the Redemptorists in their missionary work. Father General answered their questions and shared his own testimony of faith.
The gathering was further enriched by moments of prayer. The opening prayer was prepared by the youth of the Redemptorist Conference of South America, while the youth of the Conference of Asia and Oceania led the closing prayer.
Fr. Paweł Drobot, C.Ss.R.
Message of the Superior General to the Redemptorist Youth on the occasion of their online meeting
A Generation on the move – Missionaries of Hope
- Dear young members of the Redemptorist Youth and Vocation Ministry and confreres who accompany the different groups of Redemptorist Youth Ministry in the various places where the Congregation is present: I greet each one of you with joy who are participating in this virtual meeting of the Redemptorist Youth Ministry. Welcome!
- From the outset, I thank the members of the Commission who prepared this meeting, the young people who organized the prayers, as well as the translators who are helping us today. It is a joy to see that in so many places of the Congregation there are young people who dream, pray, and work together, animated by the same charism we received from Saint Alphonsus. I wanted to hold this meeting to encourage you in your mission. The Congregation believes in your work. And although you may encounter resistance along the way, do not be discouraged. Always remember that you are Missionaries of Hope. And hope does not disappoint (cf. Romans 5:5).
- The chosen theme, “A Generation on the move – Missionaries of Hope”, was not chosen at random. It is in full harmony with the Year of Mission we celebrate throughout the Congregation and with the Jubilee of Hope the Church is living. Both signs are fruitfully linked to the motto of our General Chapter: “Missionaries of Hope following in the Footsteps of the Redeemer.” They remind us that our mission is always dynamic: a call to go forth, to reach out, and not to lock ourselves in. And it is precisely here that you, young people, are the protagonists.
- You are an essential part of this mission. You are called to reflect and contribute to the Redemptorist mission in the world. You possess energy, creativity, boldness, and the courage to dream of new paths. You can help us renew the Redemptorist mission by bringing the hope of the Gospel into your daily realities: the family, the university, the workplace, social media, and Christian communities.
- Pope Francis reminded us that we must be a Church that goes forth, a Church that leaves its comfort zone, that goes to the geographical and existential peripheries of the world, and is not afraid to get its hands dirty (cf. Evangelii Gaudium 20.49). You, young people, trusting in the Redeemer’s call, can promote this generation on the move.
- I would like to reflect with you on these two words: generation and going forth. The word generation comes from the Latin generare (“to beget, to give life”), from genus (“race, offspring, family”), and from the Greek genos (“species”). Therefore, your mission is to be generators of life within the Christian community. In the dynamic of faith, hope, and love, being a generation means much more than belonging to an era: it is letting yourselves be guided by the Spirit to dream of the future. You are called to be a generation that brings forth hope where indifference reigns, that sows love where there is loneliness, and that lights up where darkness seems to dominate. You are called to generate a life that welcomes and shares, that builds bridges instead of walls; a life that proclaims the Abundant Redemption and witnesses that the message of Jesus Christ is always new.
- You are full of life! And true life cannot remain stagnant: it requires movement. That is why the word going forth is so essential. To go forth is to set out, to live an exodus, to be led by the Spirit to encounter the other. God Himself made this movement: He went forth from Himself and came to meet humanity in Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 1:14; Phil 2:6-8; Heb 2:14-17). Mary, too, went forth quickly to visit her cousin Elizabeth (cf. Lk 1:39-45). That is why I encourage you not to settle for comfort or for safe zones, but truly to be a generation on the move.
- Go out to meet the young who are lost, who are wounded, who have lost the capacity to dream and to generate life. Your mission is to be a presence of hope, to light flames in hearts that live in darkness, and to show that in Christ life always begins anew and that the community of faith sustains every person along the journey.
- Today’s world presents great challenges for youth: wars, violence, social injustices, environmental crisis, and uncertainty regarding work and the future. However, at the same time, signs of hope are springing up: young people committed to justice, defending life, uniting to care for creation, and seeking to live their faith with authenticity. You are part of this generation on the move, called to proclaim with your lives that God is love, that Christ walks with us, and that hope is always possible.
- You are a generation that must not settle, but allow yourselves to be challenged by the sufferings and joys of the world. Be a generation moved by compassion, empathy, and care for the Common Home. A generation that firmly believes that the Gospel transforms lives and realities. A missionary generation, walking in the footsteps of the Redeemer and bringing hope to those most in need.
- Saint Paul, in his letter to Timothy, affirms: “Let no one despise your youth. On the contrary, set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity” (1 Tim 4:12). With these words, the apostle recognizes in youth not a limitation, but a strength and a witness capable of building up the whole Christian community. In the same line, Pope Francis, in Christus Vivit, recalls: “Filled with the love of Christ, young people are called to be witnesses of the Gospel wherever they find themselves, by the way they live” (CV 175). This means that you are not only recipients of evangelization but also protagonists: young people who dare to sow the first proclamation in the hearts of others, being young people who evangelize other young people (cf. CV 210).
- The Gospel is not a past news item, but always new, and must be proclaimed in every generation with the languages it understands. Today this implies personal witness, but also the creative use of digital media, art, music, urban culture, symbols, and the expressions proper to the youth world. To evangelize with closeness means to speak with authenticity, to listen with sincerity, and to communicate hope in a way that reaches the heart.
- In short, you are a generation on the move, Missionaries of Hope. The South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han, in his book The Burnout Society: Hope and Revolution, affirms that “hope opens the horizon of meaning, which once again inspires and gives wings to life. It gives us a future.” Hope is not static nor merely sentimental; on the contrary, it is a dynamic force, an impulse that sets us on the way, an engine that launches us beyond the immediate and the provisional. Hope makes us go forth, provokes movement, awakens creativity, gives wings to life. And you are that generation on the move, creative and missionary.
- Youth, by itself, already evokes hope, for it carries with it possibilities, dreams, and futures opening on the horizon. You are called to be Missionaries of Hope, living signs that life can always be reborn in Christ. The mission entrusted to you is the very mission of the Redeemer: to proclaim Abundant Redemption, to make present the love of God in places where life is wounded. Therefore, the Congregation, in communion with you, has the responsibility to bring to the world a message full of meaning, capable of illuminating the hearts of today’s men and women and awakening in them confidence in a better tomorrow.
- I thank each one of you for your participation in this meeting and for the commitment you assume in the various Redemptorist ministries, accompanied by the confreres. I also encourage the confreres to foster in young people the search for new languages to communicate the Gospel in today’s society. I am convinced that you can be creators of a language capable of taking the Gospel out of closed and safe spaces and bringing it into the places where today the poorest and most abandoned are found.
- May Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help, Saint Alphonsus, the Blessed and the Redemptorist Martyrs accompany you and help you to be that “Generation on the move, Missionaries of Hope,” following in the footsteps of the Redeemer.
Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R.
Superior General
Rome, September 20, 2025
Original: Spanish
