Message from the Bishop

Most Rev. Nicola De Angelis

Dear Young People,

I wish to thank you for joining our "on line" Catholic faith community. As you visit this website of our new Office for Vocations, Youth and Evangelization, you will find out about the various initiatives that are going on in the life of our Diocese.

Soon you will hear from Father Norbert Glasmacher, the newly appointed Director of the Office that preparations are underway for your participation in World Youth Day in Germany next year. I hope many of you will join our diocesan group and bring your enthusiasm to your friends in Germany.

The main symbol of World Youth Day is the Cross. This World Youth Day Cross has traveled to many countries and it has become, as our Holy Father said during his homily on Palm Sunday 2004, "a luminous sign of the faith that inspires the young generations of the third millennium."

During the same homily the Holy Father went on to say: "Certainly the message that the Cross communicates is not easy to understand in our age in which material well-being and comforts are proposed and sought after as important values. But for you, dear young people, do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel of the Cross in every circumstance! Do not be afraid to go against the current!"

Dear Friends, remember that the world needs generous young people today, who are willing to give of themselves to serve so many of their brothers and sisters who are in need in this world. It takes only a few moments scanning through the morning paper or listening to the morning news to realize that we are living in a divided and broken world. People are divided in so many ways. Families are divided. Cities, towns and nations are divided. There is war, violence and racism. There is so much materialism and pleasure-seeking. There is sexual abuse and abortion, euthanasia, murder and pornography. There is the cry of the poor, of the marginalized and of the unemployed. And there are all the many consequences of these unfortunate trends and developments.

Dear Young People, Christ is calling you to be the new evangelizers of this world. You are sent into this world of ours beset with so many problems and contradictions. You are sent to make a difference; to be the extension of Christ on earth; to be witnesses to His love; to be crew members, not just passengers on the ship of Peter.

Very often John Paul II, talking to young people, reminds them that their role in the Church is "to be in the front lines in the construction of peace, love and justice" in this world. The Pope reminds you that you are called to be in the "front lines" serving others with humility and joy, listening to Christ Who is sending you as messengers of God's Good News to the poor.

Dear Young People, my hope and my wish for you is that you may get to know Jesus better every day. Let Him touch your lives, and you will discover that He is closer to you than you are to yourselves. Once you have discovered Him as the companion of your life, remain close to Him who chose you to tell the world in a "voice loud and clear and to shout from the rooftops that God is Love." Look for your peers who are searching for love and struggling with life and lead them home with you to be free indeed, for "a world without God is a prison for man" (John Paul II).

As the first youth pages are added to the website of our new Youth Office, I take this "on line" opportunity to wish you, your dear families and friends a Joyous and Blessed Easter Season.

+Nicola De Angelis
Bishop of Peterborough

Easter 2004