On September 5, 2025, the Claretian Team at the United Nations, in collaboration with the General Prefecture of Youth and Vocation Ministry, hosted the Claretian Conversation on Youth and Future Generations. This was the third in the Claretian UN series, following earlier conversations on Transforming Education and Finance for Development. The event invited Claretian youth from different regions of the world to reflect on their role in addressing today’s global challenges and their responsibility toward future generations.
Fr. Rohan Dominic, CMF, welcomed the participants. The conversation was inspired mainly by the UN Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations, together with the calls of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV to young people, urging them to believe in a better world and to be bridge-builders across generations and cultures.
The conversation was moderated by Fr. Gabriel Ponce, CMF, General Mission Procurator and Secretary of Proclade International, who guided a diverse panel of nine young people, representing the conferences: Nangobi Mary Magdalene (Uganda), Cyril Bua Kang (Cameroon), Anna Clarissa D. Aves (Philippines), Eusebia Phawa (India), Vítor Emanuel Magalhães Barbosa CMF (Portugal), Eduardo José Hernández Morales (Guatemala), Almalyn Ignacio (Philippines), José Nekha K. (India), and Carmen García Babío (Spain),
The dialogue unfolded in three rounds. The first highlighted the gap between the lofty promises of international agreements and the lived realities of young people who still face exclusion, unemployment, and ecological breakdown. Participants insisted that youth must move beyond symbolic presence toward real influence in decision-making through councils and networks with genuine authority. The second round deepened the reflection, calling for an integral approach to ecology that connects care for creation with justice for the poor and vulnerable, and for institutionalized youth participation at all levels of governance.
The third round moved to concrete commitments. Among the proposals raised were the creation of national ombudspersons for future generations, Future Generations Commissioners with the power to review policies, youth-led environmental councils, intergenerational covenants on climate debt, and the drafting of a Global Youth Digital Bill of Rights. Participants also recommended ecological and ethical audits in education, safe and ethical digital spaces, and the appointment of intergenerational ambassadors for sustainable development to bridge faith, ethics, and governance
In his concluding remarks, Fr. Carlos Verga, CMF, General Prefect of Youth and Vocation Ministry, thanked the youth for their courage and passion. He stressed that faith cannot be separated from life’s struggles and called Claretians to “build bridges that connect generations, cultures, and worlds.” He affirmed that this conversation showed young people as protagonists of history, pilgrims of hope committed to justice, inclusion, and peace
The Claretian Conversation on Youth and Future Generations ended with a renewed commitment: the future is not a distant promise but a responsibility to be lived today. By bringing together the Church’s spiritual vision and global frameworks for justice and sustainability, Claretians and the youth pledged to safeguard creation and to ensure a just and hopeful world for future generations.
