I WISH to comment on the letter sent by Cathy Ransom entitled ‘Attracting the missing generation’ (CL 24/10/04).
I agree with her sentiments about the lack of young people coming to our Church and I want to draw your attention to Taize.
With this monastic community of Catholics and Protestants in France attracting huge numbers of young people every week of the year, very senior Catholic clerics are beginning to realise the value of the brothers’ work of reconciliation and communion.
The young people are attracted to Taize seeking answers about God in a non-confronting way and meeting young people of every race and creed and sharing their own hopes and needs as a way forward.
Taize is a miracle of communion, and as one young person from Russia said, ‘Taize is a place where miracles happen, it is like being in a mystery of a tale, a parable’.
Many young people feel isolated and not listened to yet they crave spirituality and are keenly interested in God.
Archbishop John Bathersby talks about community.
He must seek to give young people hope and a voice to meet their needs and he must find other ways to attract them back to the Church.
He could start by looking at the miracle of Taize and perhaps, with some lateral thinking, get new answers to the dilemma.
Pope John XXIII said of Taize when he visited there: ‘Ah that little springtime’.
Perhaps we need a springtime here. Let us pray to God for answers. He won’t fail us.
ANDY THOMSON
Margate, Qld
