As individualism and social fragmentation grow, how can Christian communities rediscover authentic communion? This issue of Ekklesía explores synodality, shared responsibility, mutual listening and the renewal of parish and religious life. Through reflections and experiences from around the world, it highlights how welcoming communities, rooted in the Gospel, can foster meaningful relationships, reconciliation, participation and a renewed missionary spirit.
Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik recalls the faith, humanity, and priestly witness of Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Văn Thuân, whose years of imprisonment became a school of the Gospel and a powerful testimony of hope.
Élisabeth Nguyễn Thị Thu Hồng, sister of Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Văn Thuân, recalls how his 1,001 prison meditations were written, smuggled out, and eventually published as The Road of Hope, becoming a source of faith for Christians around the world.
Study Group 3 of the Synod on Synodality reflects on the Church’s mission in digital culture, highlighting opportunities for encounter, inclusion, and evangelization while also addressing risks such as polarization, isolation, and manipulation.
Erik Hendriks describes how Belgium’s Logia network is using TikTok to reach young people with the Gospel. Their experience reveals a surprising openness to faith while highlighting the need to connect digital evangelization with welcoming, authentic Christian communities.
Fr. Davide Imeneo explains how Artificial Intelligence can support journalism, education, and pastoral ministry without replacing human judgment and relationships. Through AcutisAI, he promotes a responsible, ethical, and Gospel-centered approach to digital technology.
Digital culture is not simply a collection of technological tools but a genuine human and missionary environment. Mgr. Lucio Adrián Ruiz explains how the Church can accompany people online, form digital missionaries and make the Internet a place of encounter, listening and hope.
Paolo Ruffini reflects on Christian communication in the age of artificial intelligence, calling us to preserve human relationships, freedom and truth while actively shaping technological change so that communication remains rooted in communion, authentic encounter and witness to the Gospel.
Computer engineer and seminarian Marco Delfini reflects on how digital technology shapes young people’s relationships and desires, highlighting the importance of face-to-face communication, adult guidance and Christian discernment so that technology becomes a talent used creatively and responsibly.
Hubertus Blaumeiser introduces an Ekklesía issue exploring artificial intelligence from an anthropological, educational and pastoral perspective, alongside a special feature on Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận, whose witness of hope remains strikingly relevant fifty years after The Road of Hope.
Today’s Time and Spaces explores how the Church is responding to the social, religious and spiritual challenges identified by the Synod, fostering communities of welcome, belonging and mission in an increasingly secular, mobile and digitally connected world.
Through the life of missionary bishop Dom Mario Pasqualotto, Piero Facci recounts a vocation rooted in putting God first, lived through communion, missionary service and a preferential love for those on society’s margins, especially vulnerable young people.
focus | best practice A parish at Rome’s Fiumicono Airport Lives in Transit Giovanni Soccorsi The parish at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino (Rome)
Ľudovít Pokojný from Bratislava, Slovakia, explores pastoral ministry as a synodal vocation, showing how listening, fraternity and mutual love can renew parish communities and make the Church more relevant in an age of profound cultural change.
Drawing on his pastoral experience in Brasília, Fr Edilson Santos shows how synodality transforms parish life through listening, shared responsibility and lay participation, enabling priests and communities to journey together in communion, trust and mission.
In an age of growing secularization, Manuel María Bru Alonso proposes that the future of evangelization lies not in larger institutions but in creative, welcoming communities that embody communion, synodality and missionary witness through relationships, prayer and service.
In a fragmented world marked by the collapse of communities and social bonds, this editorial reflects on the Christian call to “empty oneself” in service of others, proposing kenosis as the foundation for authentic communion, synodality and a renewed humanity.
The “Always a Person” (Sempre Persona) project accompanies prisoners and families through relationships, restoring dignity, fostering hope, and revealing Christ in each encounter, as volunteers walk alongside those in prison and beyond.
focus | experience A case study of a synodal parish in Australia David Ranson The parish as synodal The Parish of our Lady of Dolours,
focus | experience Challenges and steps of a U.S. “synodal” parish Clint Ressler A path in listening to the Spirit St. Mary of the Miraculous
The Church Among the People reflects on the Church’s vocation to be present in the midst of humanity, sharing its joys, struggles and hopes. Through theological insights and pastoral experiences from diverse contexts, the contributors explore mission, synodality, community and service, presenting a Church that listens, accompanies and witnesses to the Gospel by walking alongside the people it serves.
Sharing the Gospel Story Today explores how the Gospel can be proclaimed authentically in today’s world through witness, dialogue and lived experience. Bringing together biblical, theological and pastoral reflections, the contributors show that evangelisation is rooted in encounter, communion and everyday life, inviting Christians to communicate the joy of the Gospel with creativity, hope and love.
Facing the Wound explores how personal, social and ecclesial wounds can become places of healing, reconciliation and renewed hope. Through biblical, theological and pastoral reflections, the contributors examine suffering, forgiveness, accompaniment and God’s healing presence, showing how woundedness—when embraced with faith and love—can open the way to communion, transformation and new life.
https://ekklesiaonline.org/journeying-with-young-people-issue-5/building-bridges-in-the-balkans-meinolf-wacker/
Journeying with young people towards Christ focus | insights Educational challenges in the YouTube era Generation Z Maria Rosa Legozzo The Generation Z youth of
Vincenzo Zani reflects on the importance of creating welcoming spaces where young people can grow in faith, education and human development. He highlights listening, dialogue and community as essential for nurturing hope, vocation and authentic Christian discipleship.
Alessandra Smerilli reflects on the Church’s call to welcome, accompany and empower young people. She presents an open and inclusive Church that listens with compassion, encourages participation and helps young people discover their vocation and place in the Christian community.
EDITORIAL – Education: a global commitment CHIARA LUBICH – An endless desireBISHOP KLAUS HEMMERLE – Finding their pathALESSANDRA SMERILLI FMA – A Church with doors
focus | insights Rediscovering a long forgotten principle Mission: universal fraternity A brief interview with Italian ethicist Antonio Maria Baggio Referring back to a comprehensive article
focus | best practices Our true being as a person is found only through our relationships with others Men and women: covenant partners Marta Rodríguez
Drawing on the African experience of Small Christian Communities, Innocent Thibault Ndoreraho presents the Church as a family rooted in communion, participation and mission, showing how local communities foster faith, mutual care, evangelization and a synodal style of Christian life.