“Like Jesus before the sheep without a shepherd of his time, like Father Laval before the old slaves of his time, let us not be afraid; let us go to meet young people; let us listen to them; let us speak with them; let us trust them, they have much to offer us,” Cardinal Piat said.
The Mauritian Cardinal added in reference to young people, “Let us share with them the treasure of the Gospel of Jesus. They are eager to discover that they are loved by God, that they have value in his eyes, that they have dignity, and a role in life.”
The Spiritan Cardinal recalled the words of Pope Francis when he visited Mauritius in 2019 in reference to the youth.
The Holy Father said in reference to the Indian Ocean Island, “It is a hard thing to say, but, despite the economic growth your country has experienced in recent decades, it is the young who are suffering the most.”
Pope Francis explained referencing young people in Mauritius, “They suffer from unemployment, which not only creates uncertainty about the future, but also prevents them from believing that they play a significant part in your shared history.”
In his September 8 homily, Cardinal Piat regretted the fact that young people in Mauritius face “an uncertain future that pushes them aside and forces them to conceive their lives on the margins of society, leaving them vulnerable and almost without reference points in the face of the new forms of slavery of this 21st century.”
“We must invite young people to find their happiness in Jesus,” he said, adding, “but not in a sanitized way or from afar, but by learning to give them a place, by knowing their language, by listening to their stories, by living alongside them, by making them feel that they are blessed by God.”
The 81-year-old Mauritian Cardinal who started his Episcopal Ministry as Coadjutor Bishop of Port Louis Diocese in May 1991 continued, “Let us not steal the young face of the Church and of society; let us not let the merchants of death steal the first fruits of this earth.”
The Cardinal Piat also highlighted the challenges young people in Mauritius face as a result of the education system, which he said is “not adapted to their needs and culture”.
“These young people are left to their own devices; some of them live on the streets. They are exploited by drug dealers or by unscrupulous bosses - they are exposed to becoming drug addicts themselves - and often they end up in prison for several months,” Cardinal Piat lamented.
