Speaking at a Salesian-sponsored symposium on youth as agents of global change, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, observed that one-fifth of the world’s population are between 18 and 24 years of age. He called that cohort “an amazing pool of talent we must tap into if we are to relieve poverty in our lifetime.” According to the cardinal, who presented his views at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 24, unemployment and inadequate education are at the heart of the problems confronting the world’s young. Young people without work and access to education sometimes turn to the streets, drug gangs and violence. Others choose to make a precarious migration to escape their plight. “Everyday thousands of young people are making the journey to cross the border from Mexico into United States,” said Cardinal Rodríguez. “We must make changes in the way our global economy functions,” he said. “We must create jobs and support small farms. This means radically rethinking our casino capitalist system.”
Youth Against Poverty
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
“Many conflicting, divergent and often contradictory views of the human person have found wide acceptance … they have led to holders of traditional theories being cancelled or even losing their jobs,” the bishops said.
Robots can give you facts. But they can’t give you faith.
“Irena’s Vow” is true story of a Catholic nurse who used her position to shelter a dozen Jews in World War II-era Poland.
Few events inspire a media spectacle quite like the election of a pope. Zac and Ashley talk with church historian Miles Pattenden to learn how conclaves evolved—and how they might change in the future.