Mental health, loneliness and gender violence, on the Via Crucis presided over by Pope Francis

LISBON, 4 Aug. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Mental health problems, loneliness or gender violence have been some of the topics on which the young people of the World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon 2023 have reflected, during the Via Crucis held this Friday in the Park Edward VII and presided over by Pope Francis.

A total of 20 young people from the five continents that are part of the 'International Youth Advisory Body', of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, created after the Synod of 2018, have been in charge of choosing 14 wounds or weaknesses of society that affect young people today, to meditate on them in each of the 14 stations of the Via Crucis.

Among these problems, violence stands out in the second season, from that which occurs in war to that suffered by women by their partners.

"What violence Lord, you lived in a violent world, the world we live in may not be very different: wars, bombings, mass shootings but also violence in marriages and relationships, child abuse, bullying, abuse of power, families in which words are thrown that are worse than stones", declared a young Spaniard.

In addition, in the third station, dedicated to loneliness, the testimony of Ester, a 34-year-old Spanish girl, has been heard, who has recounted the many difficulties she has had to face in her life, from a toxic relationship, until an accident that left her in a wheelchair.

"With more than 18 years I lived as a married woman without being married, and I had a very dependent relationship that went from bad to worse. At the age of 24, after finishing studying architecture, I had an accident that injured my spinal cord and I began to live in a chair wheels. That was very hard and it erased my plans for the future, but over time I discovered that it was a gift. It took me out of the environment where I was stuck, it changed my look", he recounted through a video that has been projected in front of the thousands of young people present.

As Ester has indicated, in those years she was able to get ahead thanks to sports, her family, her work and Nacho, her husband, but problems appeared in their relationship. "When the Lord gave me the gift of becoming pregnant, due to difficulties and fear, we quickly aborted. And after that, I was left alone. I was very sad and saw no meaning in anything, I had never felt so empty," she added.

Then, according to his story, he returned to Church, confessed and began to live in a different way. "He gave me a pregnancy again, and this time I welcomed him gratefully and my precious Elizabeth was born, whom I love madly," he assured.

Meanwhile, in the seventh station, young people and the Pope have reflected on the mental health problems that many young people suffer from, such as anxiety, depression, eating problems or exhaustion, through the testimony of a young man who had mental health problems due to to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I was in my second year of college when the pandemic began and "fear arose, doubts." "At the same time, leaving the house generated in us a feeling of guilt before the ghost of being able to infect a family member," she recounted. Thus, until, in 2021, she had to go to a hospital and then to a psychologist.

"The doctor explained to me that our body, since we value physical pain more, is programmed to send signals to take care of our mental health. An expression that we have become accustomed to, although it still seems uncomfortable for many to admit it. This is it. We need a psychologist , as I had need. It is difficult to recognize our fragility, ask for help and realize that we are not self-sufficient. We are afraid of being a burden and stumbling," he said.

Throughout an hour and a half, the young people present have also been able to meditate on poverty, lack of commitment, intolerance, individualism, incoherence, humanitarian crises, addictions, productivism, the destruction of Creation, misinformation and fear of the future, which have completed the reflections of this Via Crucis.