Youth Bishop: Pope is icon of unity for Catholic youth

Youth Bishop takes stock of World Youth Day in Lisbon in "Kurier" interview: Portuguese capital "transformed" by young participants, atmosphere of "togetherness

The immense importance of Pope Francis for the World Youth Days was emphasised by Austria's "youth bishop" Stephan Turnovszky. Without the Pope, it would be difficult to organise the major Catholic event held every three years - the 37th edition of which has just taken place in Lisbon. "He is the icon of unity," the Viennese auxiliary bishop said of the Church leader in an interview with the daily newspaper Kurier (Tuesday).

Turnovzsky had accompanied the more than 1,000 Austrian young people to Portugal, on his fourth World Youth Day so far, as he explained. It was a "special festival that has its own attraction", the bishop said. Like the previous venues, Lisbon was "transformed" by the 1.5 million young people who were present everywhere in the city.

The youth bishop said of his experience of the atmosphere in the city: "There is singing and celebrating, flags are waved and gifts are exchanged, people are interested in each other. If you compare that with a city where, for example, the final of a football World Cup is taking place, then there is a big difference: it is not about being against each other but being with each other," Turnovzsky said. He said he was particularly touched by the confessions in Lisbon, which dealt with his own relationship with God. "It was very profound and existential.

Turnovzsky explained that young believers certainly have a different image of the Church than the negative one that is familiar to the general public in Europe. Even at larger youth events in Austria - the Bishop mentioned the Loretto celebrations at Pentecost as an example - one could "sense" this. He was therefore anxious to initiate a "World Youth Day on an Austrian scale", said the Youth Bishop. As a precondition, however, "corresponding commitment" was necessary.

Turnovzsky was ambivalent about the fact that, according to a recently presented youth study, faith and religion were not high on the agenda of Austria's youth, but "values that we see as Christian values" were. Without faith, the root to nourish these values is also missing. That is why he is concerned about "how consistently and sustainably these values can be passed on", he said.

As possible reasons for the crisis of faith, Turnovzsky mentioned on the one hand the loss of credibility of institutions in general and thus also of binding commitment of employees. In addition, society has become "radically worldly and has lost the communal sensitivity for spirituality". In the Bishop's view, the abuse crisis is another "homemade" reason, but not necessarily Catholic sexual morality, as Protestant and Reformed churches are also struggling with similar problems.

Addressing the topic of synodality, which is currently being discussed worldwide in the Catholic Church - a worldwide assembly of bishops will take place in October - Turnovzsky explained that the opportunity lies in "settling differences of opinion that exist in the Church in a good way". It is neither about mere voting nor about "sweeping things under the table", but about the effort to "understand, appreciate and try to understand each other's arguments".

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