“We’re not tourists in spiritual things. We are pilgrims [searching for] meaning. We come with backpacks full of doubts, wounds, songs, and hope. And with a certainty in our hearts: Christ is alive. And he calls us.”
Thus begins the “Manifesto of the Young Christians of Europe,” the heart of the “Rome ’25-Way of St. James ’27-Jerusalem ’33” project, which aims to “restore the soul” of the Old Continent and invites Christians to encounter the Lord through pilgrimage, healing, and evangelization.
This initiative, which began to take shape two years ago with the support of the Bishops’ Subcommission for Youth and Children of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, as well as the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and the Church in Jerusalem, invites young Christians across the continent to open up a new pathway to faith and hope in view of the Jubilee of the Redemption, which will be celebrated in 2033.
The initiative is also supported by the Holy See and Pope Leo XIV, to whom it was presented after a general audience at the Vatican on June 25.
The key moment for the project took place on the morning of Friday, Aug. 1, amid the Jubilee of Youth. Many young people gathered at St. Mary’s Basilica in Trastevere to give voice to a generation that wants to create a new Europe with Christ at its center.
“This manifesto is an act of faith and a call to hope. It is the voice of a [generation of] youth who do not want to remain on the sidelines, who don’t have to clamor, ‘We want more [material things],’ we want Christ at the center… The revolution has begun; the Spirit is blowing,” said Fernando Moscardó, who served as one of the youth spokespersons for the project during the presentation in Rome in July.
On that occasion, Monsignor Marco Gnavi, parish priest at St. Mary’s Basilica in Trastevere and host of the Aug. 1 event, said he was “surprised by the enthusiasm of young people,” especially in a time of “painful changes.”
The document has been published on the project’s official website, and all those “who feel part of it” are encouraged to sign it.
In addition, all information, updates, and progress on the initiative will be shared through social media under the handle @J2R2033 (Journey to Redemption 2033).
At the Aug. 1 event, attended by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, several young people of various nationalities read the manifesto aloud.
Fisichella also dedicated time to praying for peace in the world, especially for Ukraine and the conflict in the Holy Land. Among those present were young people from Palestine and Israel.
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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
