ASIA/INDIA - Youth Pastoral in India: "Young people like eagles"

Thursday, 3 November 2016 youth local churches evangelization

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Trivandrum (Agenzia Fides) - "Why do you need and how to set up Youth Pastoral in India? A typical pessimistic answer to this question should not be given: 'Young people are not interested in faith, young people are led astray by culture and technology'. Rather, as Bishops' Conference, we want to give a positive vision: an eagle does not seek shelter when it rains because it flies above the clouds. We want our young people to be like eagles, not by becoming victims of problems, but soar above problems, soaring in the sky of life": These were the words the Bishop of Jalandhar, His Exc. Mgr. Franco Mulakkal, President of the youth Commission in the Conference of Latin Bishops of India (CCBI), speaking at the fourth national Conference of youth held in Trivandrum (in the state of Kerala) in recent days. As Fides learns, the conference was attended by over 150 representatives of local Churches, including priests, lay people, young people, diocesan animators of associations and movements, invited by the Youth Commission of the Bishops' Conference of India (CCBI).
In the convention there was talk of youth pastoral programs in parishes and methods and ways to connect young people with the parish community. "Today's youth - remarked Bishop Mulakkal - are the families of tomorrow and these families make up the parish community. Although young people are the majority of the Indian population, social, educational and professional programs to facilitate the integration of young people into the social fabric are lacking. This is also true for the Church: young people are rarely involved in the pastoral care of the Church and this results in the difficulty to embody the values of the Gospel in India. It is important that parishes develop an inclusive pastoral care of young members of the community. For this - he concluded – it is desirable that every parish builds a welcoming and friendly pastoral towards young people". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 03/11/2016)