Venezuela: Strengthening the young

“If heaven is abolished for the young man and God no longer means anything to him, the only morality that will guide him will consist in not getting caught. When there is no longer any sense of sorrow at having a broken friendship with God, the sense of sin will disappear as well.”

John Paul I, who was Pope for only a month, wrote a lot about young people and their religious education while still Patriarch of Venice. He was looking to the future and foreseeing that there would be difficult circumstances – like those we find today in Venezuela. Cardinal Enrique Porras has asked us for help in the form of 800 copies of the youth catechism YOUCAT and 400 copies of DOCAT, its companion volume on the Church’s social teaching. He has also requested 656 copies of a Catholic Bible for young people and various other prayer books, including the ACN Child’s Bible. In this divided country, which in some quarters is hostile to the Church, he believes it is vital that young people know their faith more clearly. They need to be able to distinguish right from wrong so that they can still remain friends of God. By giving them the gift of a youth catechism or a Bible, you will be helping to strengthen and deepen their faith. Then they will be “caught” up in prayer.

We have promised AUD$12,100. For just AUD$200 you can help a small catechism group grow stronger in their faith.

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