Author: Cardijn Community International

Cardijn still relevant: Father Tissa

“Cardijn is still relevant in contemporary reality. CCI must bring Cardijn closer to the youth through his approach and See-Judge-Act method. The primordial role of the youth in the world should not be undermined,” says Fr Tissa Balasuriya, O.M.I., the world renowned sociologist and social activist.

“I was formed by the students,” claims the theologian who spent a decade of his life as the Chaplain of the International Movement of Catholic Students in Asia.

Fr Tissa in an informal hour long chat with the team of international leaders of Cardijn Community International (CCI) touched upon critical issues faced by the world today.

“Globalization is too vast an area and cannot be generalized,” Father Tissa continued saying “There are positive aspects of modern science and technology which could be used for action towards social change and uniting people.”

“We have distorted Christ,” he continued. To a question on how he felt at the time he was ex-communicated from the Church, he said he took it as ‘in-communication’ and not ‘ex-communication’.

Talking about ‘climate change’ Fr Tissa called upon everyone to respect the ‘rights of Mother Earth’ and work towards ‘climate justice’. He said that ‘climate justice’ is definitely part of the ‘mission of the Church’.

To a question on what keeps him going even at this age, Fr Tissa declared with a firm conviction that it was ‘LOVE’.

“The gap between the rich and poor is widening at an alarming pace. The rich are getting enormously richer and the poor very poor’ says Fr. Tissa who vouches that the ‘the teaching of Jesus was so sublime and simple. Loving your neighbor is loving God. Working towards building peace, truth and equality to prevail is the form of love we are supposed to practice but unfortunately this teaching has been distorted and manipulated,” says the octogenarian theologian.

Commenting on the forthcoming 50th anniversary of Vatican II, Fr Tissa said that another Council is necessary.

“It is the urgent need today that all of us should place our demand for another Council which shall make the Church more relevant,” he said.

The See-Judge-Act otherwise known as the Review of Life method is developed by Cardijn and is used by many Catholic Action groups and movements in the world. Cardijn Community International (CCI) provides a space for adherents of the method and the members of these movements to continue sharing experiences and show support to relevant development actions in communities.

The CCI team was on a visit to Sri Lanka to meet groups and communities involved in social action and to seek partners and supporters for the network in Sri Lanka.

The team comprised M. J. Ruben, International Convenor, Fr. S. Servatius, International Collaborator, Ms Glynis Joseph, Asia-Pacific Coordinator and Ms Kins Aparece, CCI-Philippines Coordinator.

Links

Youth for Change conference issues ‘Goa Declaration’

Sixty youth leaders who met in Goa for the CCI Youth for Change conference have asked the Church and society to include young people when formulating policies.

The Jan. 6-8 conference also stressed the need to restore people’s dignity and work among the poor more seriously, ucanews.com reports.

The conference drafted a “Goa Declaration” (See below) that promised “optimum participation of youth” to build peace and sustain development.

Speakers said the Church had failed to give young people due representation or allow their full participation in its affairs.

The participants resolved to strengthen youth organizations and build young communities to implement Second Vatican Council teachings. They also resolved to ensure that every child goes to school and become responsible citizens.

It also called for the study of new social networks and relationships to meet the challenges from commercial and consumer interests that target the youth.

Other plans include encouragement to inter-religious networking, collaboration between youth groups and Cardijn Community International as a common platform for coordination.

Various groups presented their reports highlighting their interventions in various social and environment issues.

SOURCE:

Youths demand role in decision making (www.ucanews.com)

‘Youth 4 Change Conference’

India Today: The Youth, Church and Social Commitment

6th to 8th January 2011 Pilar, Goa

Goa Declaration

We the young people gathered here at Pilar, Goa, on the theme “INDIA TODAY: the Youth, Church & Social Commitment”, during the International Year of Youth make this unanimous affirmation:

  • Having analyzed the reality in India, we acknowledge the need to restore the dignity of people, to take the side of the poor and to work towards building civil society organizations or strengthening organizations working with different sections of people.

  • We recognize the powerful and potent role of the youth in bringing about change at all levels in society.

  • We feel the need to listen to the voice of the youth at all levels of decision making and execution.

  • We begin with our own lives- being more responsible and committed persons in our family, our neighborhood – community and the society at large.

  • We promise to work towards peace building and sustainable development.

  • Having studied the social teachings of the church and the actual ground reality, we feel much has to be done to ensure the optimum participation of youth. We shall build communities of young people that put Vatican II teachings into practice.

  • We resolve to work towards strengthening the existing youth organizations in the church in India and also start new networks and organizations where nothing exists.

  • We will work in our areas/States to ensure that every child has an opportunity to go to school, enjoy their childhood and at the same time equip themselves to live as respected and responsible citizens of India.

  • We resolve to initiate a study on new types of social networks/relationships in order to be prepared to face the onslaught of commercial and consumer interests targeting the youth.

Inspired by the living testimonies of actions and lives of people living the Review of Life See-Judge-Act, we commit to do the following:

1. Inter-religious component of networking

2. CCI will be a resource group for conducting training sessions, seminars, formation programmes and for information and guidance on specific issues/problems

3. COLLABORATION between different youth groups to be promoted

4. Coordination between existing youth organizations to be initiated

5. New networks and groups can function as CCI groups if they accept the methodology and vision of CCI. Already initiative of grouping youth from various areas and categories is being initiated in Jharkhand. This group will gradually become CCI group.

6. PROGRAMS LIKE THIS MUST BE ORGANIZED in different places and on a regular basis to review the follow up and to update

7. CONNECTION WITH CCI – CCI AS A COMMON PLATFORM FOR COORDINATION

8. SEE-JUDGE & ACT methodology to be adopted by in the groups and networks

9. HYDERABAD –– UTILIZE SOCIAL NETWORKING INITIALLY to revitalize YCS

  • YCS/YSM HYDERABAD PAGE ON FACEBOOK—UPDATES AND ACTIVITIES

  • START ANEW

  • CAREER GUIDANCE PROGRAM (for youth completing 10THStandard)

  • LINK/NETWORK WITH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FOR WORK/CAREER POSSIBILITIES

  • START YOUTH GROUPS IN THE PARISH IF IT IS NOT EXISTING

10. INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENTS:

  • CREATING A PLATFORM FOR REGULAR UPDATING/REPORTING AFTER Y4C

South Asian YCS leaders meet

South Asian YCS leaders have met in Sri Lanka to discuss building a regionwide culture of action to solve climate, food and rights issues.

Some 30 students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka attended the 10th International Young Christian Students Movement (YCS) forum, organized by the YCS Sri Lanka branch, in Tewatta, ucanews.com reports.

During the week-long meeting that ended Sunday, students discussed ways to build a culture of action to control global problems of climate change, food crisis and human rights violations.

The YCS international members in over 85 countries are ready for the international challenges and contributions to manage the problems, Reyne Clemena, YCS Asian coordinator told ucanews.com.

“We (students) have a capability to achieve the goal,” said the Filipino girl, as their Church-run movement has 200 members in Pakistan, 4,000 in Sri Lanka, 166 in Nepal, 9,000 in Bangladesh and 175,000 in India, within the South Asian region.

The region has already experienced more fallout from climate change than other continents and it still continues to suffer from threats such as rising sea levels, forest degradation, floods, cyclone and tsunami and food shortage.

At the end of the conference, the YCS members outlined activities for their 2011-2013 action plans. They include tree-planting, poster campaigns, dry foods collection and distribution to the needy, food waste control, school fundraising, demonstrations and awareness programs through seminars, debate and workshops.

Meanwhile, Father Patrick Simon Gomes, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Youth in Bangladesh, said they have taken steps to promote the use of bags, wall mats and calendars made of textiles rather than plastic.

SOURCE

South Asian students take on world problems (ucanews.com)

Sudan YCS ‘martyr’ remembered

Sudanese Archbishop Paolino Lukudu Loro of Juba presided at a Mass last month where he blessed the tomb of late YCS member Abraham Gajuk who was killed in 1992 during a peaceful protest against forcibly imposed Islamic indoctrination.

Archbishop Lukudu urged the Young Christian Student (YCS) to pray for peace in Sudan upon uncertainties surrounding the referendum process.

He told the 27 November gathering at a memorial prayer for YCS founders and members killed during the war to invoke the spirit of the decease members to bring peace to Sudan.

Archbishop Lukudu said Abraham Gajuk and Okela were killed in cold blood in Juba due to their YCS activities.

He prayed to the deceased members of the YCS to intercede for peace in the Sudan and called on the youth to register and vote for the referendum in order to honour the blood of their slain members.

YCS Sudan is currently celebrating its Silver Jubilee in Juba. The long week celebration concludes on Sunday.

There were young people present from most of the dioceses in Sudan, as well as from Uganda and Kenya, Father Herald Joseph Brock CFR noted on his blog.

“The event was organized by our friend, Fr. Martin Ochaya Lino, Secretary General of the Archdiocese of Juba and chaplain and former member of the YCS,” Father Brock wrote.

“I was asked to address the participants on the theme, ‘A Personal Relationship with God.’ The youth were very attentive and responsive.

“The YCS event was co-sponsored by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with the assistance of another good friend, Tom Purekal, CRS Peace Building Program Coordinator for South Sudan,” Father Brock noted.

Thai Bishop Bunluen Mansap dead at 81

Bishop Michael Bunluen Mansap, retired bishop of Ubon Ratchathani, who founded the Catholic Council of Thailand for Development (CCTD) and also the Thai Church’s Justice and Peace Commission, has died aged 81.

“Bishop Bunluen was among the first (Catholic clergymen) who talked about and taught the Catholic social teachings,” said Rungrote Tangsurakit, former CCTD manager and CCI Asia-Pacific coordinator.

The bishop rallied Thai people of all religions to tackle social injustices, ucanews.com reports.

“During the coup d’ etat in 1992, Bishop Bunluen pushed the Thai Church to declare its position on solving political problems by peaceful means and with respect for people’s human rights. Before this, the Thai Church had always been quiet on these matters,” recalled Rakawin Leechanavanichpan, former coordinator of the justice and peace commission.

Bishop Mansap had even earlier this year called on the government and “red-shirt” demonstrators to renew talks after violent clashes left several people dead and hundreds injured.

“What endangers the country is not civil war, it is anger and hatred, and there seem to be lots of people with hatred today.” He urged all Thais to accept different opinions and beliefs. “All humans have the potential to love each other but are divided by politics and ideology,” he said.

The so-called “red shirts,” a loose coalition of political activists and supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, have been encamped in Thailand’s capital for nearly a month. They claimed the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva is illegitimate and were calling for the immediate dissolution of parliament and early elections.

Bishop Mansap was also in charge of the Thai bishops´ Commission for Human Development, the Commission for Ethnic Groups and the Episcopal Commissions for Social Works.

Born in 1929, the bishop was ordained a priest for Ratchaburi diocese in western Thailand in 1951. As a young priest, he was interested in social development ministry, but he became actively involved only from 1965.

He served as secretary of the Office for Human Development of the Federation of the Asian Bishops´ Conferences from 1974 to 1976, the year he was ordained a bishop. From 1978 to 1984 he was chairman of the same office.

SOURCE

Bishop who promoted justice in Thailand dies (ucanews.com)

Welcome to the new Cardijn.info!

Welcome to the new Cardijn.info website created using the WordPress platform.

We expect that it will be much easier to update our site using WordPress and thus hope to provide even more frequent news of and about Cardijn, the Cardijn movements and all those who adhere to the Cardijn spirituality and methodology.

This is the fourth major version of our website since 2002.

You can find the most recent website here with all of our news from 2008-2010: https://sites.google.com/a/cardijn.info/ccinews/Home

This site was hosted as a google site and there were many advantages. But in the end WordPress offers more flexibility.

Thanks to the Internet Wayback Machine, an online archiving service, you can even visit some of our earlier websites.

Here is our site as it was in 2002:

http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20020926050429/https://www.cardijn.info/

Actually, they have mixed up a couple of images – there were 2 versions, one in blue, one in maroon. Somehow the images have been mixed – but the effect is good.

And this is how it should have looked:

We also had a wiki version of the website which unfortunately does not reproduce very well in the Wayback machine. But you can see some of the content.

Check them all out here: http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090605184625/https://www.cardijn.info/

What’s more here is what our predecessor site looked like back in 1999 hosted at www.cardijn.net

Well, we hope we have improved over the years and we look forward to further improvement in the future.

Meanwhile, read on…

Stefan Gigacz

on behalf of the

CCI Coordination Team

Welcoming 2011 – CCI 10th Anniversary Year

We are happy to announce that the first CCI event of 2011 has been a great success.

CCI India has just completed its Youth for Change National Conference in Goa. Read the report and the Goa Declaration here.

CCI Convenor MJ Ruben reports that 60 young people and animators attended the gathering from many regions of India, including Mumbai, Jharkhand, Patna, Jamshedpur, Hyderabad, Kanniyakumari. Chennai, Guntur, Pune, Udaipur, Goa, Nagpur, Gujarat, Bangalore and Tuticorin.

“Fantastic response,” Ruben writes.” Never expected the youth to be so responsive and attentive.”

This year is also another year of Cardijn centenaries. In a few months, we will mark the hundredth anniversary of Cardijn’s visit to London to meet the English trade union leaders, particularly Ben Tillett of the Dockers Union who had so much impact on his conception of the future YCW.

Read Cardijn’s report of this momentous trip here in English or here in the original French.

Events

There will be some major events for CCI coming up this year, notably our 10th centenary of our foundation as the Cardijn Liaison Committee at a Network for Development conference in Bangkok in July 2001.

We plan to celebrate this anniversary and make plans for the coming years at our International Forum and General Assembly once again in Bangkok on 23-24 July 2011. More details here and hope you can join us.

Also coming up this year is a major conference to be held by the Cardijn Community Australia to be held in Melbourne from 4-6 November at the Archdiocesan Centre and the Catholic Theological College. We will have publish more details as they become available.

New resources

Latest items on our Cardijn Resources website include a link to a video of the 1957 Pilgrimage to Rome made by British Pathe.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news of other video resources to include in our list.

Also published on the Cardijn Documents site is Cardijn’s 1956 speech to English and Welsh YCW chaplains, Quaerite Primum – Seek First. It is a tour de force of Cardijn’s basic philosophy and method and is one of the few published texts that were originally delivered in English.

Here also is a link to the announcement by Marc Sangnier of the closure of Le Sillon, the magazine of the French Sillon movement, which was the major precursor to the Cardijn movements. It was the closure of the Sillon which opened the door to the emergence of the YCW.

What Cardijn thought about all this can also be found in this short article, 25 août: L’héritage du Sillon et la JOC, that I wrote for the French magazine, Les Cahiers de l’Atelier.

Meanwhile, all the best for 2011 from the CCI Team.

Stefan Gigacz

for the CCI Team