Media Release

Udupi, Aug 2: Yuva Samagam, a daylong programme, was organised by the Moodubelle unit of ICYM, at the St Lawrence PU College Hall, Moodubelle on Sunday, July 30.

The deanery-level programme comprised of the inaugural, youth catechism - Youcat, holy mass, cultural programmes, and valedictory function.

Around 200 youth from nine parishes of the Udupi deanery participated in Yuva Samagam.

Yuva Samagam was formally inaugurated by lighting the lamp bychief guest, Fr Denis D’Sa, PRO of Udupi diocese, and parish priest of St Antony’s Church, Kuntalnagar, and the dignitaries on the dais including Fr Clement Mascarenhas, parish priest of St Lawrence Church, Moodubelle, Fr Lawrence Cutinha, assisstant parish priest and director of ICYM, Moodubelle as well as Udupi deanery, Fr Rockwin Pinto, professor in St Joseph’s Seminary, Mangaluru, Vincent Fernandes and Latha D’Mello, vice president and secretary of Parish Pastoral Council respectively, Anitha Alva and Valerian Noronha, Animators of ICYM Moodubelle, Dion D’Souza, president of Udupi deanery level ICYM, Vinod D’Souza and Seema D’Souza, president and secretary of ICYM Moodubelle respectively.

In his message, Fr Denis D’Sa said, "Usually the notion about the youth is that they are a bunch of fun seeking persons always fond of entertainment. However, the notion is gradually changing as the youth have been taking a new direction towards positive aspects in life such as seriousness in study, attending retreats, going on pilgrimage and participating in spiritual endeavours."
 
He stressed the importance of youth catechism in modern times and narrated its evolution.  Youcat is a 2011 publication that aims to be an aid for youth to better understand the ‘catechism of the Catholic church’.
 
Fr Clement Mascarenhas appreciated the work done by the ICYM members of Moodubelle in organizing the Yuva Samagam 2017 and giving an opportunity to the youth of the Udupi Deanery to have the rich experience of the Youcat.
 
Vinod D’Souza, president of ICYM Moodubelle welcomed the gathering, Seema D’Souza, secretary proposed the vote of thanks, Sharlin D’Almeida introduced the resource person of the day, Fr Rockwin Pinto and Melisha Rebello and Vijay D’Souza compered the inaugural programme.

Soon after the inaugural function, Felina D’Souza, former secretary of ICYM Udupi deanery conducted a few warmup dances. Thereafter, the participating ICYM members were divided into ten groups and Fr Rockwin Pinto conducted the Youth Catechism through power point presentations and group discussions.

After the holy Mass and lunch, the ICYM members once again assembled in the hall at 2.30 pm for the cultural programme competition. Each of the 9 parishes was assigned 10 minutes during which they were required to present a skit on contemporary issues and a dance. The judges were Fr Vijay D’Souza, assistant parish priest of Udupi, Fr Jaison Paes (OFM Cap) from Assisi Nilaya, Moodubelle and Melcon Lewis from Sasthan.

The ICYM groups from different parishes presented skits on contemporary issues such as adverse effects of bad company, social communication, and rumour mongering. Other topics included environment, demonetization, Sunday Catechism class, impact of inter-religious marriage, among others.

Dances were centred around the folklore of Goa, especially the ‘mando’.

After the end of the competition, a valedictory function was held. Fr Valerian Mendonsa, parish priest of Mother of Sorrows Church, Udupi and dean of Udupi Varado presided over the valedictory function. Other dignitaries on the dais included Fr Royson Fernandes, assistant parish priest of St John the Evangelist Church, Shankerpura and former director of Udupi Deanery ICYM, Fr Vijay D’Souza, Fr Denis D’Sa, Fr Clement Mascarenhas, Fr Lawrence Cutinha, Fr Roque D’Souza, parish priest of St Xavier Church, Udyavar, Fr Ronson, parish priest of Katapadi, Fr Jaison Paes (OFM Cap), Sharlin D’Sa, president of Udupi diocese ICYM, Vincent Fernandes, Dion D’Souza and Shiny Alva, secretary of Udupi deanery ICYM.
 
Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo paid a brief visit to the venue of the Yuva Samagam and addressing the ICYM members complimented them for participating in such an event.  He said that besides the Youcat, the church had brought out Docat and Youth Bible which would help the youth deepen their faith. He made an appeal to the youth to register their names in voters list and also to check if their names were included in the list. Further, the Bishop stressed upon the need for the youth to aspire for government service in order to serve the community better and thus take up competitive examinations to better their prospects.

On occasion, Fr Royson Fernandes, former director of ICYM, Udupi deanery was felicitated by the dignitaries on the dais.
 
In his message, Fr Royson said, "There are three valuable treasures that the youth have to seek and preserve - Jesus Christ, faith and the youth themselves. He appreciated the ICYM unit of Moodubelle for organising the Yuva Samagam."
 
Four ICYM members from different parishes were honoured for their excellent achievement. These included Valita of Kuntalnagar, Ancita of Moodubelle, Onil Andrade of Kalmady and Rosalia of Udyavar.
 
The office bearers of last year who were felicitated on occasion included Wilfred, animator, Vinyl D’Souza, president, and Janet D’Silva, secretary.

In his presidential message, Fr Valerian Mendonca said, "Ancestors who survived the captivity of Tipu Sultan had spread across different regions of former South Canara and rebuilt their faith and passed it on to the next generations. In order to promote the faith among the youth, the Youcat has been devised after a lot of thought and work."

He made an appeal to the to youth not only have the knowledge but also manifest faith in their day to day life. He pointed out the ill effects of the social media and said, "Gadgets do not respond to our relationship. It is essential for the youth to have good friends who would stand by them in success as well as in failure and support them positively."

Fr Denis D’Sa announced the winners of the cultural programme competition.

The ICYM Team from Mother of Sorrows Church, Udupi were the winners and the ICYM Team from Stella Maris Church, Kalmady were the runners up.
 
Dion D’Souza welcomed the gathering. Shiny Alva proposed the vote of thanks. Edna Menezes compered the valedictory programme.