Central Asia Catholic Youth Festival Prepares for Pope Francis Visit

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Endless fields of Naryn region, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia
Endless fields of Naryn region, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia: Photo: Say thanks 🙌 Give a shoutout to Amir Asakeev on social or copy the text below to attribute. Photo by Amir Asakeev on Unsplash

Young people from various locations around the country and from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Siberian Russia gathered to spend a few days of recreation and prayer, preparing for Pope Francis’ visit to Kazakhstan in September.

Newsroom (23/08/2022 1:15 PM Gaudium PressAfter the two-year hiatus due to the anti-coronavirus restrictions, the young Catholics started meeting again. This time, 60 of them were able to be together for a joyful and intense sharing experience. The meeting focused on the rediscovery of Christian identity and a sense of belonging to the Church. Priests and catechists shared their experiences and offered themes for meditation, which then flowed into small group and assembly discussions.

The festival’s ultimate goal was to develop a shared program for social and charitable service in the participants’ parishes and places of residence. Everyone proposed initiatives and ideas, showing much creativity and an unconventional approach to the issues. The result of the group’s work was the presentation of 6 projects with concrete suggestions and service ideas for the elderly and the most abandoned, children and families in need, and youth in general. The projects will then be professionally vetted to define their purposes, contexts, target groups, hoped-for results, effectiveness, available budget and time frame.

Beyond the reflections, work and discussions, the young people had the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature in Issyk-Kul, or ‘Hot Lake.’ The Jesuit center is located 100 meters from the shore of a huge salt-water basin placed between the Kungey Alatau Mountains in the north and the Terskey Alatau Mountains in the south. It is part of the Tian Shan mountain range, the second largest mountain lake in the world, after Lake Titicaca in South America. The main feature, as the name suggests, is the lake’s pleasant temperature, which does not freeze even in the coldest winters.

Indeed, an essential part of the festival was the three-day mountaineering event, a challenge and an exciting experience for many of the participants. The Jesuit fathers have been at work in Kyrgyzstan since the 1990s, with a dynamic community made up of experienced and young missionaries, constantly moving and changing between communities in Central Asia and Siberia.

In July, precisely in Issyk-Kul, the first session of the “Summer Theological School in Central asia” had also been held, which gathered twenty participants selected by the local Ordinaries and coming from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The organizers offered courses on the History of Christianity in Central Asia, Introduction to Moral Theology and Sacred Scripture, and Issues of Christian Anthropology in Russian; not only academic lectures but also a fruitful exchange of knowledge, questions and opinions. Several Catholics from Tajikistan were also to attend the School but were unable to come due to tensions on the Kyrgyz-Tajik borders. It is hoped that they will be able to join at the next session.

– Raju Hasmukh

(Via Asianews)

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