Udupi Diocese

Karnataka's first ever YCS/YSM convention

Karnataka's first ever YCS/YSM convention was inaugurated on October 18, 2015 hosted at St Mary’s English medium school Kannarpady, Udupi at 5 pm organized by the Karnataka Regional YCS movement.

1. Do you justify this opinion? Substantiate with 5 examples.
2. What do you expect from education? Suggest ways to accomplish them.
3. What is your opinion about weight of school bags and burden of syllabus? What do you expect from the authorities?
4. What do you understand by ‘qualitative education’? What do you expect from this concept?

'Competitions should be delinked from education to foster the value of co-operation'

A paper was presented on the above topic by Miss. Jesvita Quadras, NEXCO Mangaluru and Sudarshan Naik the YSM president of Udupi Diocese. Fr Eugene Lobo moderated the session and gathering all the information from the delegates, the panelists and from the paper presentation he made his observations. These observations were to be formulated into a memorandum to be presented to the concerned authorities. A team of 10 people were formed to prepare the memorandum. Mr. Francis D’Cunha helped the delegates to prepare the memorandum. After the lunch action songs were taught. This was followed by a session by Sri Ravindranath Shanbagh a social, environmental and human rights activist. In his deliberation he spoke about the various social issues pertaining to human rights. He also elaborated the issues regarding Yettinahole project and brought awareness among the students citing about the geographical imbalance that it would bring. He also spoke about the habitat of the Western Ghats.

After the talk on Environmental challenges a session on mass media was conducted. The moderator present was Fr. Denis Dsa. Mr. Mohammad Naseer spoke about social media like facebook, whatsapp etc. He also said that through mass media we are losing skill to interact with each other. Miss Melrida Rodrigues ex council member of Mangaluru diocese spoke about types, advantages and disadvantages of mass media. She said that youth today is so addicted to social media that they don’t have time to have an interactive relationship with others.

After a short tea break REXCOs and the Volunteers delighted everyone with action songs. Fr Mari introduced Mr. Roy Castelino, the president of Konkani Sahithya Acadamy. Mr. Roy Castelino spoke to the audience about being leaders in the society. He added quoting ‘We want our children to be on top in every profession’. He also gave information CAP (Career Advancement Program) which was introduced by the Bishop of Bellary Most Rev Dr. Henry D souza. He concluded saying that as YCS/YSMers we need to form the society and be the proud youth of Karnataka. Mr. Richard Lewis, a renowned comedian and famously known as ‘Recharge Richie’ entertained the crowd and increased their enthusiasm. In a very humorous way he conveyed a very strong message about being equal and keeping aside our religion and caste he said that if a person respects and follows all religions then he said to be a true human. He added that we need to denelop communication skills. With the guidance of Fr. Charles students from Belguam, Chikmagalure, Udupi, Mangaluru, Shimoga expressed their views in YCS. Mr. Leo from Tamil Nadu and Sr. Margerett from Bangalore also shared their experience in YCS from the past many years. They told about the inspiration gained from YCS, their capability of facing the audience. They all were gretful towards this life giving movement. Fr. Franklin honoured Mr. Leo and Sr. Margeret. This was followed by inter religious prayer and supper. A cultural program was presented by all the dioceses. The day ended with a short prayer lead by Fr. Mari Joseph. First Day:
Rev. Dr. Aloysius D’Souza, Bishop, Diocese of Mangalore, was welcomed by Fr. Mari Joseph, RYD, and his team. Bishop was garlanded by Hazel Martis Udupi, President, RYD.

The convention commenced with a mass with Dr. Aloysius D’Souza, Bishop, Diocese of Mangalore being the main celebrant with 17 priests. Msgr. Baptist Menezes, Diocese of Udupi delivered the homily, where they asked the students gathered to shine as Light and be salt to the world as Lord Jesus. Bishop Aloysius asked the youth to be actual performers rather than be a mere applauding crowd. He said”Today’s education is being misleading for the youngsters. It asks one to be selfish. This is where YCS/YSM act as the guiding lamp. He asked the youth to make use of this convention, to gather all knowledge possible which would be useful for them in their upcoming days. He also asked them to be agents of change of themselves and thus transform the society by becoming value based people.

The YCS/ YSM regional Convention, a historic event was officially inaugurated by hoisting of the YCS/YSM flag was done by Fr. Fredrick Mascheranus, correspondent, St Mary’s Institutions, Udupi, followed by Inter-Religious Prayer conducted by students only.

Most. Rev Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, the Bishop of Udupi, welcomed all the delegates of Karnataka region to his diocese and in his inaugural address said quoting “What you are today is the gift of God. And what you become tomorrow is your gift to God.” He wished all the delegates and organizers a fruitful convention and blessed them with God’s blessings.

Msgr. Baptist Menezes, Diocese of Udupi, Fr. Charles D’Souza, Director, International Young Christian Students, France, Fr. Deepak Thomas, KJ, OCD, Director, National Youth Council, Delhi, Fr. Fred Mascheranus, Vicarvar, Udupi Deanery and Correspondent, St Mary’s Institutions, Udupi, Sr. Leena Tauro, Mangalore, Sr. Trasilda AC President, CRI, Diocese of Udupi, Veronica Cornelio, Chairperson, KS&DL, Karnataka and Hazel D’Souza, President, Regional YCS Council along with other elected Regional and National YCS/YSM representatives were present on the dais.

Fr. Charles, the International Chaplain for Young Christian Students Movement, France was felicitated and honored on this historical occasion. He said as a part of the students formation in building up the nation the theme of this convention was drawn three years ago, and the main three trusts were 1) Inter-Culturality, 2) Religious Plurality and 3) Universal Culture of love and life. Further he said there is a tendency among the students today to succumb to failures and embrace a culture of death than celebrate life. He enthused the delegates to take part in this convention actively and take home a strong message for life to become a value based person to build a new society.

Veronica Cornelio, Chairperson, KS&DL, Karnataka, congratulated the organizers and said it is a rare opportunity to host such a program. She said today’s youth lack values in their life. There also is a vast gap in inculcating the values when compared to our ancestors. This is because of the rapid modernization. She appealed the students to change their attitudes to bring about a change in the society.

Hazel Martis, President, Regional YCS council, welcomed the dignitaries and the delegates, while Pearl Lopez, secretary, Regional YCS council proposed the vote of thanks. Elson D'Souza, Lavita D’Souza and Rencita D’Souza of Udupi and Melroy D’souza of Mangalore compered the entire program.

Second day:
The second day commenced with mass. Fr. Deepak KJ Thomas, NYD were the main celebrant while Fr. Mari Joseph, RYD, delivered the Homily.