NG YOUNG PEOPLE ROSS CONTINENTS ALUMNI ATTEND VATICAN PRE-SYNOD GATHERING ON YOUTH | By Nicholas Krause, BA ’19
craft good, straightforward, ‘punchy’ sentences.” Meanwhile, López was asked by the USCCB to address the gathering, including Pope Francis himself. “The highlight of the trip was delivering the address before the pope,” López said. “Lay ministers in the United States don’t get as much vocational affirmation as priests, so it was great to receive the affirmation of the bishops for the work I’ve done only four years in.” He was one of 10 international representatives asked to deliver an address on the state of young people, and he represented the whole of the Americas, including South and Central America (Europe views both our southern and northern continents together as the “Americas”). Before writing his address, López received input from young people throughout Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica. When it came to addressing his fellow delegates who represented dioceses across the world — not to mention Pope Francis and numerous cardinals and bishops — López didn’t feel nervous. In fact, Pope Francis’ entrance was one of the reasons he felt such ease. “He came in unannounced, and he didn’t care for any of the formalities,” said López. “It was special to see the authenticity of his greeting. There was zero pressure and no intimidation.
As soon as I saw him I knew everything was going to be OK. He exuded this indescribable humility; I felt comfortable going up and talking simply because of who he is.” Since López represented both Spanish- and English-speaking Catholics, he opened and closed his remarks in Spanish (although he is not a native speaker), because, as he said in his address, “Porque ahora mas que nunca es importante que mostremos nuestra solidaridad y unidad con ustedes, nuestros hermanos y hermanas de cada nacion de Latina America.” (“Now more than ever, it is important that we show our solidarity and unity with you, our brothers and sisters of every nation of Latin America.”) In his address, he highlighted the feelings of uncertainty present among young adults, including UD students. “In my fourth year as campus minister at the University of Dallas, I've found that if there is one overall theme that highlights the life of a young adult, it is transition — moving, choosing, experimenting, failing, succeeding, fearing and hoping that the next steps we make are the steps God is calling us to make,” López said. “The life of the young person is riddled with potential changes. And the mere existence of these changes is cause for great stress and anxiety in the hearts of our young people. Anxiety often arises from not transitioning into these areas as quickly as others in society.” López also stressed numerous other social justice issues, including systemic racism, severe poverty, devastation from natural disasters, inaccessible education, drug and human trafficking, abuse, gang violence, guerilla warfare, unjust immigration laws that separate families, and the denial of safe harbor for refugees. Closing his remarks as he started them in Spanish, López concluded: “Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, patrona de las Americas, ruega por nosotros.” ("Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, pray for us.") As the final document created by the delegates reads, “The young person of today is met with a host of external and internal challenges and opportunities, many of which are specific to their individual contexts and some of which are shared across continents. In light of this, it is necessary for the Church to examine the way in which it thinks about and engages with young people in order to be an effective, relevant and life-giving guide throughout their lives.” Moving forward in their lives and work, López and Prejean intend to use the lessons they learned while in Rome both as UD undergraduates and as pre-synodal delegates. Now having both returned home to the United States, they will persist faithfully and determinedly in their mission to walk alongside young Catholics and bring them closer to Christ.
SUMMER 2018
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