Young Catholics attend seminar on citizenship and social advocacy

by Sumon Corraya

Some 50 youth from all of the country’s dioceses took part in the event. For one chaplain, “by training young people, we will create the leaders of future generations and the Church.” Student wants to “provide a holistic service to fellow citizens.”

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – A group of young Catholics took part in a seminar on citizenship and social advocacy that began on 21 February and ended today.

The event, which was held at the Dhaka Caritas Development Institute, was organised by the Asia-Pacific section of the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS-AP) and the Bangladesh Catholic Students Movement (BCSM).

About “50 Bangladeshi youth participated in National Transformative Leadership Programme,” said one of the organisers, William Nokrek, speaking to AsiaNews.

“The aim of the seminar was strengthening Catholic student groups through capacity building, movement building, developing spirituality by advocacy and spiritual action.”

Issues of global relevance were addressed, such as climate change, conflicts, solidarity and justice advocacy.

Some of the issues discussed included the lack of trust among the younger generations because of older generations’ reluctance to introduce them to the world of work, the lack of extracurricular activities in schools, and the difficulty in identifying leaders who can leave up to expectations.

According to IMCS-AP coordinator Nokrek, young people must be encouraged to develop “a spirituality of action, which is not satisfied with meetings and prayers but lives in a concrete way, so that our community can contribute effectively at the local, national and international levels.”

Shubra Teresa Sarder, a 23-year-old university student from the Diocese of Barisal and a local BCSM leader, attended the seminar. For her, the meeting taught “how to become a transformative leader.” This means “First of all that I need to know citizens' rights.” Thus, “As a leader, I have to provide a holistic service to citizens.”

At the same time, she explained that she “learnt what Christian and national leadership is.” For this reason, “I will strive to be a good leader for the Church and the country.”

According to student movement chaplain John Shanth Kumar Joseph, “by training young people, we will create the leaders of future generations and the Church.”

The chaplain, who hails from India, noted that the training method used was to divide young people into various groups "so that they can understand the (various) issue(s) in depth".

At the end of the seminar, participants said that the would organise similar meetings in their respective dioceses.