Accompanying Children, Adolescents and Young People in the Face of Natural Disasters: a Comprehensive Approach Based on Revelation, Tradition and Pastoral Discernment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51743/cih.678Keywords:
Natural Disasters, Pastoral Accompaniment, Childhood and Youth, Suffering and Meaning, Resilience and Trauma, Educational MinistryAbstract
This paper offers an integrated theological–pastoral approach to accompanying children, adolescents, and young adults affected by natural disasters. It begins by presenting creation as a dynamic and fragile gift in which natural phenomena, though potentially destructive, are not expressions of divine punishment but part of the world’s intrinsic autonomy. Confronted with innocent suffering, Scripture and Christology reveal a God who does not explain pain from a distance but enters into it, transforming it through
compassion and the Paschal mystery. The pastoral task is therefore rooted in listening, presence, and the creation of narrative spaces that allow young people to integrate trauma with hope and meaning. The text highlights resilience, social support networks, meaning-making processes, and spiritual resources as key protective factors.
It also examines age-specific psychological impacts and proposes practical guidelines for interventions that unite pastoral mercy, pedagogical clarity, and ecological awareness. The Christian community emerges as a vital place of consolation, reconstruction, and eschatological hope in the face of traumatic experiences.
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References
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