Future of youth work: Eichstätter Diocese starts realignment

Future of youth work: Eichstätter Diocese starts realignment

A lot is happening in church youth work in the Eichstätt diocese. On June 29th, representatives of the diocese and young people from the BDKJ associations met in the inspiring surroundings of the Schloss Pfünz youth conference center. The aim of this think tank was to develop a plan to realign youth work in order to enable young people to actively shape their church environment. bistum-eichstaett.de reports that workshops have already taken place with full-time employees to discuss various models that meet the current challenges.

An exciting result of these discussions are four models for realignment that were presented to the youth associations. These models received lively comment and further suggestions will be discussed at an online meeting in July. At the end, a common concept should be developed that will be presented to those responsible in the diocese for a decision. Sarah Hairbucher, head of the youth department, emphasizes the importance of young people's commitment and the need for constructive dialogue.

The challenges of the future

But why this realignment? The background is clear: The diocese of Eichstätt is planning a comprehensive restructuring of the eight deanery offices and six youth offices. The aim is to free up resources for pastoral care and to deploy pastoral staff more locally. These changes should be completed by the end of 2025 for the deanery offices and by the end of 2026 for the Catholic youth offices.

The youth offices play a crucial role in church youth work. According to the Eichstätt Youth Foundation jugendstiftung-eichstaett.de They not only offer support from full-time staff, but also promote the networking and qualification of volunteers. Here, young people receive support to orient themselves towards Christian values ​​and to spend their free time meaningfully.

Petition for the future of youth work

However, the uncertainty surrounding the closure of youth centers raises questions. A petition addressed to Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke OSB calls for the closure plans and the associated personnel savings to be reconsidered. openpetition.de points out that the closure could have significant consequences for the work of church youth associations. Volunteers alone cannot handle the tasks that were previously carried out by full-time staff. It is a call to everyone to stand up for the future of youth work.

Young people themselves would like more concrete information and clear targets from those responsible. BDKJ diocesan association board member Florian Siegmund emphasizes how important it is to continue the dialogue and to take young people's participation seriously. This makes it clear: The future of church youth work in the Diocese of Eichstätt lies in the hands of the young generation - they want to be heard and actively help shape it!