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Europe’s cries and hopes

As we consider the European context in which many of us are living, we are challenged by its complexity. It presents us with opportunities, but there are deep tensions and great inequalities. This is partly as a consequence of a crisis in values and a perverse economic system that does not allow people to lead a dignified life and to develop.

In Europe today, disorientation is growing, along with the influence of populist movements and racist propaganda. There is not enough effort being made to find solutions. We need to overcome corruption, personal interests and social insensitivity that disregards the common good.

The Teresian Association members in Europe feel the need to confront this reality and to act in a prophetic way to communicate the Good News of Jesus and to show that it applies to us here and now.

We recognise the following urgent needs:

  • The reality of forced migration.
  • The fragility and vulnerability of many families.
  • Gender violence and all forms of exclusion being suffered by women.
  • The complexity of young people’s situation nowadays and the difficulty they face in accessing decent work.
  • The progressive secularisation of Europe and, along with this, people’s need to search for meaning in transcendence in an increasingly multi-religious context.
  • The lack of critical thinking and the loss of confidence in political decision-making.
  • New forms of poverty and discrimination.

At the same time, we are aware of people, groups and situations that are signs of hope:

  • A growing sensitivity and alternative ways of living being found in order to avert the destruction of the environment.
  • The diversity of people (migrants, refugees and volunteers) who bring something new into our societies and Churches.
  • The conceptual insights that help us to see the opportunities that exist of having the kind of world that we all want.

By sharing our common TA mission projects in various contexts in Europe, we become aware of our possibilities to respond to these challenges and also of our constraints. We want to continue to put our efforts into the areas of families, youth and migrants as the latest Assembly asked us to do. We also wish to open up our spaces more and more to experiences of faith, of welcome and of meeting in diversity.

Extract from the conclusions of the Meeting of the Coordinating Group of the European Platform. December 2019.

Tags: Europa