Japanese, Korean bishops pledge to listen to youth

Bishops from Japan and South Korea put their heads together to debate what youngsters want from the church.They gathered in South Korea at Uijeongbu Diocese’s Hanmaum Youth Training Center in Yangju, Gyeonggi province, for the 24th Japan-Korea Bishops’ Exchange Meeting from Nov. 13-15.With the theme “Reality of Youth and Pastoral Prospects in AI age,” the bishops listened to the views of youngsters about effective youth ministry.Moses Kim Dong-hee, youth ministry director of Uijeongbu Diocese, gave a lecture on the situation of Korean youth and pastoral prospects, while Park Young-seo, former director of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, spoke about artificial intelligence in the era of the fourth Industrial Revolution.In video messages, young people spoke about their hopes. Japanese youth wanted bishops’ participation in events for youth and facilities for their spiritual training and prayers. Korean youthwanted bishops to treat them the same as all faithful regardless of their age.The bishops pledged to visit events for young people as much as possible and to listen to their voices directly. They also agreed to solve problems related to the faith lives of young people through integral pastoral ministry centering on family ministry.The event was attended by 23 Korean bishops including Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul and Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of Kwangju, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.The 18 Japanese bishops included Cardinal Maeda Manyo of Osaka and Archbishop Takami Mitsuaki of Nagasaki.