Bishop Cistone was a native Philadelphian. Our local Church, which he served for many years as a faithful priest and auxiliary bishop, was always close to his heart. I am grateful for the opportunities I had to spend time in conversation with him during his trips home and at the regular gatherings of bishops from across the country each year.

As I’ve done on an occasional basis for the last few months, I’m turning over my column space here to another voice whose good work is relevant to the theme of the 2018 synod: “Young people, the faith, and vocational discernment.”

Chris Stefanick began his career as a successful youth minister but has since developed into one of the most effective Catholic evangelists in the United States.  The founder of Real Life Catholic, Stefanick’s live events reach more than 85,000 people each year – and his online videos, TV show and radio spots have reached millions.  He offers his thoughts on the synod and its goals below.

Three years after the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, thanks to a former U.S. cardinal, a Pennsylvania statewide grand jury report, and abuse problems in Chile and elsewhere, the Church is in turmoil.  In this turbulent environment, the Holy See will host a world synod of bishops, October 3-28, in Rome.   Keyed to the theme of “young people, faith, and vocational discernment,” a more ironic, and more difficult, confluence of bad facts at a bad time for the meeting can hardly be imagined.

Over the past few months I’ve turned my regular column space over to young adults on a number of occasions.  They’ve used this space to offer their views on the 2018 synod of bishops focusing on youth.  That synod begins this week in Rome, on Wednesday, October 3.  Below is a letter I received on September 30 from India.

En los últimos meses he cedido mi espacio de columna a adultos jóvenes en varias ocasiones. He utilizado este espacio para ofrecer sus opiniones sobre el Sínodo de los Obispos del 2018 centrándose en la juventud. Ese sínodo inicia esta semana en Roma, el miércoles, 3 de octubre. A continuación es una carta que recibí el 30 de septiembre de la India.

I want to underline our commitment to helping abuse survivors, whether their claims are time-barred or not.