Come join us for coffee, young Catholics urge the Church
It might be called Cappuccino Catholicism.
Young Catholics told their Church elders on Saturday that the faith should be spread in the places where they like to hang out, such as coffee bars.
"We would like the Church to meet us in the various places in which she currently has little or no presence," reads part of a 12-page document written by some 300 young Catholic delegates from around the world, who met for a week at the Vatican.
"The Church should try to find creative new ways to encounter people where they are comfortable and where they naturally socialize: bars, coffee shops, parks, gyms, stadiums and any other popular cultural centres," it said.
The delegates met in Rome to share their ideas and concerns with Vatican officials ahead of a synod, or meeting of bishops, in October, on the theme of "Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment".
At a news conference presenting the paper, which will feed into a larger working document to be used by the bishops, participants said they wanted their Church to be more open and transparent and less severe.
The document called for a greater role for women in the Church, which bars them from the priesthood.
"What are the...
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