Monday, July 16, 2018
“Mission and Youth in Europe Today” is the theme of the European Assembly of Formation and Vocation Youth Ministry, held at Sunningdale (England) from July 3rd to 10th, 2018. Eighteen participants representing all the Circumscriptions, Poland and the General Secretariat of Formation met to share and discuss their ministerial experiences, reflect together on common issues, and evaluate and strengthen their common journey in this sector.

The main purpose of this Continental Formation Assembly was to offer a quality moment of ongoing formation to the participants. This objective has been achieved through the presentations of the various speakers and the fraternal atmosphere of the Assembly. Two guest speakers highlighted the current situation of the youth in Europe and the mission of the Comboni missionaries in Europe today. There followed a reflection on the implementation of the directives of the last Continental Formation Assembly held at Nuremberg in 2016. Then we had the overview of the current Comboni vocation and formation, zeroing in on both basic formation and the practice of the model of integration in on-going formation.

This Formation Assembly comes at a time when the Universal Church is preparing to celebrate the Synod of Bishops on the Youth, Faith and Vocation Discernment. This has been a concrete way of feeling cum Ecclesia, of walking with the Church and also of shouldering its concerns and challenges.

The Assembly expressed special gratitude to the London Province, which has provided the necessary facilities and support towards the successful outcome of the meeting.