by Nirmala Carvalho

An interview with Fr. VM Thomas, Executive Director, Don Bosco Institute DBI, who has just returned from a conference focusing on the next generation promoted by the FABC, the priest analyses the continents main issues: unemployment, lack of access to education in a globalised world, the collapse of values, the need to affirm one’s identity. He invites the Church to rapidly intervene: we need to be Christ to today’s youth; only by encountering Him can their lives be filled with purpose.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Asian’s youth are feeling the consequences of today’s globalised world, they are in the midst of an identity crises and they risk becoming slaves to materialism and a system where values have been overturned; it is the Churches duty to help them understand the meaning of Christ’s Sacrifice and Resurrection, this discovery alone can give true meaning to their lives. This is the content of an interview given to AsiaNews by Fr. VM Thomas, Executive Director, Don Bosco Institute DBI, in the north western state of Guwahati. He was one of the speakers of the 2nd Bishops’ Institute for Lay Apostolate organized by FABC (Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference), Youth Desk held on 10-14 Nov. 2007at Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The following is the full text of the interview with Fr. Thomas, convinced that the Asian Church must prioritise the youth and their education.

What do young people mean for Asia?

Young people are the hope of Asia as she goes through the effects of globalisation. They cannot be left without help or guidance at the crossroads of life and when faced with difficult choices. A great effort is necessary to make ourselves be present among youth.

What are the main problems that a young Asian meets with?

Today the youth are ‘bombarded’ by the Media by all the allurements which are so subtle and deceptive, that the ‘Value System” needs to be reinforced.  We have witnessed that the invasive and manipulatory powers of the media on impressionable minds can twist the family and societal values of the youth and make them lopsided.  Prestige, power, possessions are the values aggressively promoted by the media  This leads to the youth seeking comfort, conveniences and instant gratification at any cost this slavery to material goods and affluent life-style  is detrimental to the youth who at times take the easy way to acquire this way of life.  Families are at risk with all of the indecent and violent programming bombarding families today.  Unfortunately in today’s Global Village, it makes the youth feel obsolete and outdated to even have a different mind-set, because they stand alone and against the popular tide. Hence at the FABC it was stressed as the pressing and urgent need of the moment to form our youth. 

What instead are the specific challenges which young people in India face?

In the North East, our young people face tremendous challenges; the ethnic conflicts and the problem of insurgencies are the biggest issues which our emerging generations have to face.

The Situation of North east is a complex one; the youth are often disheartened and disillusioned and often look for an escape from this harsh reality of suffering. I have been working with the youth in the North East for the past 30 years and I am absolutely convinced that it is due to lack of opportunities and neglect, by both the Government and to some extent the Church too.

Unemployment is a major issue in the North east especially for the youth who are semi-literate and even those who are educated do not have stable and well paying jobs.  Even the ethnic conflict is the youth looking for an assertion of their own identity and ethnicity in a multi-cultural setting. Taking up of arms is also linked to this crisis of identity and some a sense of apparent security.  Most often the ethnic trouble is due to the youth defending their identity because this is what gives them purpose and fulfilment to a certain degree.”

How can the Church intervene?

If there is anything the Youth needs to ponder and experience anew it is the power of God's Word. Their conversations are often centred on national events and they are ready to take to the streets and fight for common causes, but not really bothered about their personal salvation and relationship with God.  The awareness of what the death of Jesus means for me personally is the beginning of resurrection for me.  It is the conscious acceptance of Jesus as ones personal Saviour. Only then life becomes meaningful.

And we priests and youth workers can impart to empower the youth, the Fundamental Truth is the youth must have a Meeting with Jesus Christ who met the disheartened disciples on the way to Emmaus, we have to understand their existential situation in the historical context in which they find themselves.

 

• india
• youth
• crises
• asian
• challenges
• unemployemnt
• identity
• christ
• mission
• christain
• formation
• Fr
• Thoma
• FABC