Youth might not know what a synod is, but they’re shaping one

The Synod of Bishops on young people that the Catholic Church will hold in October 2018 will be preceded by a global conversation, thanks to accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

For the first time in history, the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, following instructions from Pope Francis, has announced its presence on social networks in order to open a global conversation on the subject of the Synod: “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.”

The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has made it known that the social network accounts under the name of “Synod2018” will be open as a space for interaction and information regarding the preparatory work of the Synod focused on young people.

For this reason, the hashtag #Synod2018 has been announced for use in all languages.

The preparatory activities for the upcoming Synod already have established a point of contact at youth.synod2018.va, which offers an online questionnaire for all the young people of the world.

The social networks will also be a decisive instrument for communicating with the nearly 300 young people from around the world whom Pope Francis invited to participate in the “pre-synod” in Rome next March.

In accordance with the pope’s wishes, these young men and women will be chosen from among “Catholic young people, youth of various Christian confessions and other religions, and non-believers.”

“We must listen to young people!” explained Pope Francis, in one of his speeches in preparation for the synod. “For this reason, the conclusions of the meeting in March will be sent to the Synod Fathers,” he added.

Here are the channels through which it is already possible to participate in the preparation of the Synod on youth:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synod2018

Twitter: https://twitter.com/synod2018

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/synod2018/

Questionnaire: https://survey-synod2018.glauco.it/limesurvey/index.php/147718