Italian
The number of young people approaching the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation is growing: a positive sign that brings with it the challenge of making Catholic social thought accessible and relevant to new generations. Gert-Jan Boon, coordinator of the Foundation’s youth group, outlined perspectives and strategies to strengthen this connection.
VATICAN CITY. Younger, more engagement, new questions. The Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation reports a steady increase in the participation of new generations, and this presents a specific challenge: how to make the message of Catholic social thought truly relevant for those who face the speed of technological change every day?
“Year after year, more and more young people are getting closer to the Foundation, participating in the meetings we organize here,” explained Gert-Jan Boon, head of the youth group of FCAPP, on the sidelines of the 2026 International Conference held in the New Aula of the Synod at the Vatican.
“One of the main challenges is to understand how we can make this message and the insights that the Foundation seeks to convey more easily accessible to this group.”.
The value that the Foundation brings to young people is clear: “To reflect, starting from Catholic social thought, on human values and how to address today’s great economic questions”. Among these, in the foreground is artificial intelligence:
“New technologies force us to question how to apply them in our societies, ensuring that they serve human beings and respect human values. They must be at the service of all, not just a few.”.
A reflection that directly refers to the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church: the centrality of the person, the common good, the universal destination of goods. Ancient principles that, according to Boon, still have much to say to the newer challenges of our time.
