A Pastorale Giovanile della Diocesi di Como initiative which brings together spirituality, conviviality and the lake experience in which every journey is a true educational initiative
A Pastorale Giovanile della Diocesi di Como initiative which brings together spirituality, conviviality and the lake experience in which every journey is a true educational initiative
There’s a moment in young people’s lives in which everything changes. 13-14 is a delicate and fascinating age, a boundary line between childhood and adolescence, in which young people start to make their own way, to look critically at themselves and their future. This is the age group that Molo 14, the Pastorale Giovanile della Diocesi di Como initiative, is for, a gathering of hundreds of pre-teens on the banks of the lake for a day of socialising, fun and growth. The heart of this Bellagio experience is the vocation theme – in the sense of the search for individual identity and a place in the world – which cuts through the whole day on 3 May, culminating in the Eucharist with the bishop and play and sharing experiences. But there’s one thing which makes Molo 14 truly unique and which is a key part of the experience for many participants, the boat trip. The crucial, precious and generous support of Navigazione Laghi gives young people the chance to set off from Como-Cernobbio and Colico to Bellagio at the little port of San Giovanni.
“It’s not just a logistical journey,” explain Don Pietro Bianchi and Andrea Ballabio from Pastorale Giovanile Diocesana. “The lake journey is a full-blown educational experience, an opportunity for groups to meet up, get to know one another and open up.” “In a social context in which rites of passage are rarer and rarer”, says Cardinal Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como, “initiatives such as this are even more meaningful. They give young people a space in which they feel centre-stage players, and are welcomed and supported.” The lake is both metaphor and travelling companion, then. It is often the – shared – journey – which makes the difference. “And this is why,” Pastorale Giovanile Diocesana di Como concludes, “we once again thank Navigazione Laghi, with no ulterior motive, for its help to hundreds of young people from all over our Como diocese, to enjoy an experience which will remain with them.”
