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YOUTH VOLUNTARY  SERVICE  – A SIGN OF THE TIMES

APPEAL OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE YOUNG

As to your role as young people, I simply say that you are indispensable, not for what you can do with your own human efforts but for what you can do through faith in the God of peace who creates a culture and a commitment to peace.

You can become what people expect of you if you decide to act today. Given the state of things, do something.

Voluntary service, one of the wonders of our times, lives on in you.

You only need to have the right purity of intention so that you are transparent, a breath of hope that will make you persevere, humility in your brotherly love that will make you credible.

I would dare to say that a young person of your age who does not in one form or another devote quite some time to the service of others cannot call himself or herself a Christian, such are the many hidden needs of our brothers and sisters around us.

John Paul II, Turin 1988

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Printing completed: June 2010