Now that the 23rd World Youth Day has come and gone and empowered by the Spirit, we have the courageous task of living as witnesses.  Being a witness is not an easy task and that is why IMCS is dedicated to the empowerment of university students around the world to live the example of Christ though a “spirituality of action” and World Youth Day was the perfect opportunity for us to come together as a Church to outreach to throngs of young Catholics on a journey.

All-in-all, World Youth Day 2008 was a great experience to share our experiences with one another, to learn something new, to realize our weaknesses, and to be rejuvenated so that we are able to overcome all obstacles.  Thanks to our students, alumni, friends, and partners, fortunate members of IMCS Pax Romana were able to make this pilgrimage either with their diocese groups or youth commission.  One student from IMCS Bangladesh, Anthony Prince Costa, was able to serve on the International Liturgy Group.  We are very appreciative for the kind gesture which made this once-in-a-lifetime experience possible for all of the students who have returned home with a renewed sense of mission.

Together with the Australian Catholic Students’ Association (IMCS Australia), Caritas Australia, and the network of Catholic-inspired youth NGOs, we were able to have a total of 12 events, activities, and opportunities for action!  This included the only official sports event during WYD.  Our events uniquely intertwined spirituality, teaching, and mission.  As students it was sometimes a challenge for us to make the link between our faith and everyday lives, but IMCS students came through with a grand achievement. 

At the Vocations Expo, the network of international Catholic youth organizations was one of the few lay organizations to sponsor a booth.  It caught the attention of Vatican Radio and we were able to explain to a larger audience the equal importance of lay vocations and its beneficial role through youth-led organizations.  In our workshop entitled Witness Through Action: Young People and the Millennium Development Goals in partnership with Caritas Australia, we proclaimed commitments at a personal level and called upon the Church and civil society to join us in action. 

During our pilgrimage journey, IMCS members also participated in various side-events and activities such as the Green WYD, which was co-organized by IMCS alumni.  We joined 13 other organizations in supporting an ecumenical declaration entitled “Christian Youth Climate Declaration.”  Additionally, IMCS students went beyond themselves and reached out to strangers with compassion to those who experience marginalization in various ways and searching for acceptance.  At our final event, our members’ gathering, we all recommitted ourselves to the mission of our organizations declaring that, “We believe in the power of young people to act.  Together, we can make a difference.” 

Unfortunately, not all university students were able to make the physical journey to Sydney for one reason or another.  It would have been an enormous tragedy for all of us if we could not somehow involve all young people around the world to celebrate this World Youth Day.  For that reason IMCS Pax Romana encouraged all of its members to celebrate “WYD Where You Are” so that they too were able to journey in solidarity as pilgrims.

In his homily during the Closing Mass, Pope Benedict XVI said, “Dear young people, let me now ask you a question... How are you using the gifts you have been given, the “power” which the Holy Spirit is even now prepared to release within you? What legacy will you leave to young people yet to come? What difference will you make?”  This is the challenge we have been tasked with.  With the 23rd WYD now concluded, IMCS is evermore committed to empowering students around the world to bridge their faith and intellect to their service with others through prayer, reflection, and action.  With your help, continued support, and prayers, we will be able to do jus

“Witness Through Action: Young People and the Millennium Development Goals”

Hosted by Caritas Australia in partnership with IYCS, IYCW, MIJARC, and IMCS, we shared how our faith challenges us to ensure that the MDGs are achieved by 2015.  Testimonies of participants focused especially on the issues of hunger, education, and work. The event was co-hosted by Caritas Australia CEO, Mr. Jack de Groot. The event concluded with the signing of a personal commitment declaration of putting our faith into action.

Tuesday 15 July; 14:00—16:00

Barnet Long Room, Customs House, Circular Quay

FINAL STATEMENT

At the dawn of the new millennium in September 2000, all member countries gathered at the United Nations Headquarters for the Millennium Summit.  There they committed to improving the quality of life in developing countries.  These heads of state agreed upon a set of realistic, measurable, and achievable goals called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which apply internationally and within each country at the domestic front.  Not only did they agree upon goals, they also agreed upon a deadline - 2015.

The majority of the world’s young people face poverty, hunger, insufficient educational opportunities, insufficient access to health care, limited employment opportunities, limited access to communication and lack of space in decision making processes. With all these global realities young people in many parts of the world feel hopeless, isolated, and alone. It is a sad paradox that some young people in affluent countries feel hopelessness and a loneliness that leads them to see suicide as a solution to their problems.

Realizing that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to the complex and multifaceted challenges of the MDGs, young people are an integral piece of the puzzle of achieving the Goals. The past decade has seen a growing recognition of the importance of youth participation in decision-making, as successful efforts by governments to engage youth have led to better policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.  Far too often, however, the roles played by youth in these processes are marginal.  Why?  Youth continue to face institutionalized prejudices in many quarters that see youth as lacking expertise, experience, capacity, or drive.  Rather than being viewed as a problem or risk to be contained or solved, youth should be recognized as social actors with skills and capacities to bring about constructive solutions to societal issues that directly affect them.

We, the young people gathered here today together with those whom we represent, with a diversity of experiences, believe that it is necessary that we are provided with basic resources such as access to education,, food, employment, health care, information and communication technologies.  These basic resources are crucial for the development of young people in the world today.

Our Commitments and Call to the Church and Civil Society

· We commit ourselves to become active in the struggle against hunger, poverty, discrimination, and exclusion and to build a world of peace and justice.

· We commit ourselves to think and act responsibly in both our personal lives and in our communities in support of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

· We call upon other young people to share their experiences with others thereby encouraging one another to take up the challenge to engage in social, political and economic issues.

· We call upon Church and civil society leaders to support and accompany young people in their actions to eradicate poverty and hunger.

· We call upon Church leaders to be witnesses to young people, of faith lived in action for justice and equality.

· We call upon civil society to hold governments accountable to their promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Declared by: young people at World Youth Day 2008; Caritas International; IYCS-JECI; IYCW-JOCI; MIJARC-ICMARY; and IMCS-MIEC Pax Romana