There is a “crisis” among young people who “we are losing to self-harm, through addiction, and reckless actions [1]”, the Bishop of Derry has warned.
Bishop Donal McKeown told The Irish Catholic that priests are “constantly burying young people who die for want of a reason for living”, while also saying the Church must be a “prophetic voice” and critic.
He lamented the lack of reflection in society on root causes: “They don’t ask: ‘How is our worldview actually nourishing dysfunctionality? How is it actually promoting a negative worldview that has no hope?”
“If all you can tell young people is ‘Have fun’, ‘Life is too short to say no’, ‘Let’s feel good’… These are ads, slogans that are being churned out to them. If you keep telling them that, no wonder they will say ‘what on earth’s all this whole living thing about?’ It’s good for the market, but our job is to critique what the strong would like us to promote.”