As one of 36 young auditors at the , Callan had the unique opportunity of rubbing shoulders with the world鱿鱼视频app bishops on a topic she holds closely to her heart.
鈥淔rom my part and I think for a lot of the young people there, we felt like we did have the freedom to speak,鈥� said the 29-year-old Salt+Light Media French producer. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 one time where I felt I needed to hold back or anything like that. Even sometimes when I haven鈥檛 spoken in a while, a bishop would say, 鈥楬ey, Emilie, you haven鈥檛 spoken in a long time. Is there something you wanted to say about this?鈥� 鈥�
Callan was invited to Rome Oct. 3-28 to be one of two Canadian auditors, alongside her colleague, S+L blogger Julian Paparella. Both were given an opportunity to address the bishops during synodal interventions on 鈥淵oung People, Faith and Vocational Discernment.鈥�
Two more S+L staff, Prevain Devandran and Allyson Kenny, were invited as observers. S+L CEO Fr. Tom Rosica was appointed as the English media attach茅.
The bishop delegates that represented the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops were Saint-Jean-Longueuil Bishop Lionel Gendron, Sherbrooke Archbishop Luc Cyr, Montreal Bishop Thomas Dowd and Prince George Bishop Stephen Jensen.
Pope Francis also appointed Quebec Cardinal Gerald Lacroix as a synod father and Cardinal Marc Ouellet represented Canada as prefect of the Congregation of Bishops.
The final document of the synod stressed that bishops need to listen to young people and recognize them as full members of the Church.
Callan said she felt that her voice as a young auditor was valued by the bishops and the peers around her. Since coming back from Rome, Callan has been on a whirlwind of speaking engagements. Recently, she spoke at the Canadian Catholic Students鈥� Association conference in London, Ont., and in two workshops at the 2018 Parliament of the World鱿鱼视频app Religions in Toronto.
鈥淲e were there on the inside,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e got to hear what a lot of the interventions were in the background and what some of the conversations were like in our small working groups. And so, the result of that is the final document, but there was so much that happened in the background.鈥�
On the home front, youth leaders from across the country were also keeping an eye on the month鱿鱼视频app activities in Rome. Campus minister Sr. Susan Kidd of the Congr茅gation de Notre-Dame said talks about the youth synod have been permeating among University of Prince Edward Island students for a little more than a year.
鈥淚 was hoping for a broader representation of Canadian delegates,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ost of our clergy were from the province of Quebec expect for one. And the four young adults, in different capacities were all Salt+Light people. So initially, I was pretty hesitant about the narrow focus of the Canadian delegation.鈥�
Nevertheless, Kidd said she was grateful that leaders of the Church came together to discern its relationship to the young people of today.
A synod topic that struck a particular chord with Kidd is about the role of women in the Church, especially in a decision-making gathering like the synod.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a missing piece,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e given my life to ministry in the Church and my vows allow me to respond to the call of the mission of Jesus in the Church today, except for there.鈥�
Now that the synod discussions have wrapped up in the Vatican, Kidd believes her role is to be an advocate in her local community. As she awaits the official English translation of the final document, she looks to unpack the results with the young people she works with in Charlottetown.
Kevin Prada, associate director of the Catholic School of Evangelization in Saint-Malo, Man., said the gathering may be over, but there is still more work to be done in the Church at home.
鈥淚f anything, it鱿鱼视频app giving us a time to think about youth ministry,鈥� he said. 鈥淵oung people need what everybody else needs. They need belonging. They need love. They need to feel like they have a seat at the table and if anything, it鱿鱼视频app giving us the opportunity to identify that and talk about that.鈥�
The Catholic School of Evangelization is hosting a speaking event with Gendron and Callan to talk about their experience at the synod. Prada said they hope to unpack the final document together with their students and staff in order to 鈥渃oncretely lead our Church here in Manitoba.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 glad that they included vocations in their discussions because in my mind, if as a Church, we are not being intentionally present in young people鱿鱼视频app single biggest, most important decision of their lives, we鈥檙e kind of missing the mark,鈥� said Prada. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad that鱿鱼视频app a discussion that our clergy are having.鈥�