joins the celebration of the CBCP Year of the Youth

"Stand firm in the faith...do all your work in love" Cor 15: 13-14, TEV

OBSERVATIONS

1. Gathering of raw data was accomplished through Surveys I and II, Youth Conventions I and II and four District Consultations in the Archdiocese of Cebu between February and October 1985.
2. The respondents were youth leaders from 109 parishes of Cebu who were mostly members of either parish, school, socio-civic or religious organizations. Only Survey II included a significant number of rural and out-of-school respondents.
3. The objective of this Preparatory Commission was to indicate only general trends and direction of problems and needs of the Cebu youth. After the Synod, an implementation body shall undertake a more detailed and thorough survey.
4. Noteworthy was the limited representation of young persons from among the cause-oriented protest groups and the out-of-school sectors despite constant invitations from the Commission.
5. All of these gatherings took place in communitarian spirit so as to read the signs of the times and "prudently learn how to view, judge and do all things in the light of faith."

Problems and Needs

6. The problems and needs of Cebu's youth are social problems related to their confused identity, crisis of authority with parents and parish priests, need for guidance and recognition, egoism and materialism, and the lack of Christian formation.
7. The most prevalent social problem is lack of financial resources, followed by a limited access to a well-rounded formation. Others include poor relationship with their peers, with members of the different youth organizations, with sectors in the church, specifically the parish priests. Non-satisfaction of certain basic needs --- lack of clothing and food, lack of access to education --- plague the respondents. When asked about the causes of social problems, the Cebu youth ranked the government first, mass media second, the family third, their peers fourth and the Church last.
8. Morally and spiritually, they are faced with such problems as the lack of a Christ-centered formation, delinquent brothers and sisters, irresponsible parents and abuse of drugs.
9. Among their network of personal relationships, the youth felt that their relationship with God mattered the most. When asked about their experiences, the youth state, that "God is loving and merciful". However, experiencing "I am a lovable person" receives a ranking of eighteenth only.
10. Furthermore, concerning religious practices, first rank is given to the belief "that a Christian must make use of the sacraments as often as possible". "I find the Eucharist as prayerful and meaningful" is of seventh rank. "My parish encourages the youth to improve their quality of life" receives only twentieth rank and the "members of my parish inspire me to become a better professional and citizen" obtains only thirtieth rank.
11. When consulted on formation, the results yielded high scores on human and spiritual issues while there were very low scores on the doctrinal and apostolic issues.

Aspirations of Cebu's Youth

12. The youth of Cebu admit that there is a gap between their own and the ideal image of the "Church of today" as expressed in their vision of the Archdiocese of Cebu. They strongly articulate the need for fuller responsibility in their personal conversion and formation to be effective agents of change.
13. They are willing to help solve the social problems. When questioned about their motives for pursuing their ambitions, the desire to help the family, to help the poor and the needy and to improve the community/ country all ranked ahead of personal enrichment such as to develop one's talents, to become powerful, to enrich themselves and to be famous in that order.
14. When asked to choose from a wide array of material things, most respondents (76%) preferred to have a Bible or religious articles, followed by food (74%) shelter (61%), clothing (59%) and money (55%). Only then did they choose recreational articles.
15. The youth of Cebu see the Church as highly institutional and desire her to follow the Servant model, or an integration of the five Church models, within the pastoral option of the Cebu Church ---the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC). Some young people look up to their parish priests as guides in their moral and - spiritual development although they sense authoritarianism in them. Others question the priests' authenticity and express their disillusionment by their absence from Mass and the reception of the sacraments. The involvement in the Church of some youth is more functional than redemptive or evangelical. Some youth expressed the need for the training of the formators themselves while acknowledging the latter's self-sacrificing dedication to the apostolate.

Conclusions

16. The collated data indicate that the problems of the Cebu youth are survival, relational and formational.
17. The material and physical survival of Cebu youth should be given primary consideration since it is a basic need. The preparatory Commission on Youth concludes that the majority of our youth belong to the poor and needy who deserve relief and welfare work, developmental self-help projects, conscience formation for the promotion of justice and the right to life in our present societal structures. Thus, a thorough study must be made of the out-of-school youth sectors, especially among the farmers and the fishermen.
18. The youth's needs are also relational. They seek guidance from authority even as they perceive their own failures as a result of confusion, immaturity, and irresponsibility, their conflicting relationships with others, the failure of their adult models and social institutions to help them in their growth development.
19. The Cebuano youth have basic questions: how to attain, a secure identity; how to develop participative relationship with the community; how to get involved in meaningful and relevant celebration of the sacraments and sacramentaIs. Studies indicate that the traditional approach to human and spiritual formation did not consider these questions. A total human and developmental approach to Cebuano youth's formation is necessary as their survival and relational needs are not being met. So, the Preparatory Commission strongly recommends a Youth Formation Program that considers their stages of growth and development.
20. Very low scores on doctrinal concerns can mean inadequate and irrelevant catechetical programs for the youth and/or the failure to fully implement the latter.
21. The low scores on apostolic issues seemingly contradict the youth's identification with the servant church model. The youth see their need for social action as a response to the urgent spiritual and material poverty in many areas of their parishes even as they perceive their present apostolic involvement as more functional than evangelical.

114. A preferential option for Youth shall be emphasized in the formulation of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan.
115. The objectives of all youth programs and activities in the Archdiocese shall be based on its pastoral vision.
116. The Formation Program for the Youth in the Archdiocese shall take into consideration their total development, i.e., the human, spiritual, doctrinal and apostolic dimensions.
117. A training program for youth formators in the archdiocesan, vicarial and parochial levels shall be undertaken in order to implement the youth formation program.
118. The building of Basic Ecclesial Communities as a pastoral option of the local Church shall give orientation and direction to youth programs and activities in the Archdiocese.
119. An independent, professional research group in coordination with the Commissions on Youth shall undertake a thorough, scientific study of the situation of the urban, rural, out-of-school and cause-oriented youth-groups.

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