6TH INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FORM TO PRECEDE WORLD YOUTH DAY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 18, 1997 (VIS) - The 6th International Youth Forum, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a prelude to the biennial international World Youth Day, will be held in Paris from August 14 to 18, according to a communique released by the council.

It describes the forum, entrusted by the Holy Father to the pontifical council as an integral part of World Youth Day, as "an experience of ecclesial life, a time for meditation and prayer, a meeting of friendship and sharing of experiences and a special occasion for mutual acquaintance and benefit. An average of 300 young people participate in these forums and are selected by episcopal conferences, movements, associations, communities and ecclesial groups from throughout the world."

"The goals of the International Youth Forum," says the English-language press release, "are: To offer the young delegates a direct experience of the universality of the Church by fostering among them a lively sharing of testimonies and experiences and faith lived in the concrete situations of our contemporary world; to reflect on the most topical issues of our times (especially those that more directly concern the youth world) and promote Christian solutions.

Also among those goals: "To encourage a renewed missionary zeal, so that the young delegates themselves may become the 'new evangelizers', and builders of a 'civilization of love'; to foster, in an environment of authentic ecclesial communion, new opportunities of dialogue between the young people and their pastors, and reinforce the network of communications and exchange between the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the various youth realities throughout the world."
.../YOUTH FORUM/PARIS:CON-L VIS 970318 (280)