Media Release
Gurgaon, Oct 27: The Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) National Youth Awards were given to 17 Catholic youth on the occasion of the valedictory of the National Conference of ICYM under the banner of Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of India (CCBI) on October 25 at Shofar Conference Center.
The five days ICYM National Youth Conference attended by 400 young participants from different parts of the country centered on the theme 'The Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment' which discussed issues and concerns of youth. The conference marked the 'Synod on Youth' convened by Pope Francis at Rome. The culmination of the conference was the award ceremony which is the annual feature of the ICYM to honour the Catholic youth of India who have rendered great service to society and the church. Seventeen young achievers from different parts of India were shortlisted and conferred upon with ICYM - National Award by Dilip Cherian - the founding
partner of Perfect Relations, who was the chief guest of the programme in the presence of Dr Rajaram Polimera, member bishop of CCBI Youth Commission, Fr Stephen Alathara – deputy secretary of CCBI, Fr Chethan Machado, National Youth Director of ICYM and other dignitaries.
The following youth from different regions bagged the national awards: Benjamin Lakra and Sukhmanja Kispotta of Chattisgarh region, S Ruba Babu and J Martina Mary of Tamil Nadu region, Kuotseituo John and Anita Tirkey of North East region, Ausfin Dias of Western region, Vikasand of Northern region, Jaideep Damore and Pooja Charpota of Madhya Pradesh region, Vishal Francis and Soumya Simon of Agra region, Kotte Rupesh and Sondi Fathima Anthony of Telugu region, Ajith K Thankachanand Elin David of Kerela region, Jerry Jockin of Karnataka region.
The concluding day of the conference also witnessed the first general body meeting of ICYM. The meeting was chaired by Sagar Gabatta the national vice president of ICYM in the absence of Percival Holt the national president who is attending the Synod at Rome. Denis the national treasurer welcomed the General Body (GB) members and also presented the financial status of the movement. The report of the programmmes and activities of ICYM since its inception on Janaury 15, 2017 was read by Paul Jose the general secretary. Upcoming programmes and concerns of the CCBI Youth Commission were discussed and clarified with the GB members.
The ICYM youth conference was unique in its nature as it had choice based 12 workshops on relevant topics and group discussions carried out by 10 groups. The delegates deliberated in detail on the topic and came out with a statement which could assist all the stakeholders of the youth ministry in framing policies and programmes for the youth.
The whole conference was planned and executed under the able leadership of Percival Holt, the national president of ICYM and his executive team.